What Was Once Perfection
by Secret Agent Girl
Summary: [11] [Through the darkness and into the light]
1. The Illusions of Perfection

            **Author's Note: Hey look! I'm actually posting this!! Bout time too. Sorry for the wait. My muse and I were just not communicating. But now apparently we are. So here's my 4th-quel… _WHAT WAS ONCE PERFECTION_. And while the title may be a little nerve racking and, yes I am venturing off into my first adventure in Angst-Ville, this will have a happy ending, hopefully. **

**            As always, S/V through out and Francie is not evil in this. The first three in the series really lets you know what's been happening, and while I'd like you to read those, just to catch you up --- S/V got together a week or so after The Counteragent and took down SD-6 (and Sloane and Sark) about a year or so later. Irina, isn't completely good, nor is she completely evil (more about her in the chapter). Francie married Weiss and Lucy is Jack's secretary who ****Sydney**** set up with Will and now they are married. This takes place about 9 or so years after the ending of _FROM TWO TO THREE the prequel to this one (Danny is now 9)._**

**            I hope you enjoy!! And please review and let me know what you think. – Secret Agent Girl (SAG)**

**Ch.**** 1    The Illusions of Perfection**

"Daniel!" She hollered as she raced down the hall to stop her son from creeping out the door. "Daniel William Vaughn, don't you even **think about leaving this house."**

            "But Mom…"

            "Don't 'but Mom' me. I just tried to walk through your room and I tripped over 2 hockey sticks, a pair of skates, your backpack and the gigantic pile of laundry that seems to be growing hourly." Sydney folded her arms across her chest, staring down at her 9 year old son, a hockey bag and skates slung over one shoulder and a hockey stick in his hand. "Now to my knowledge I asked you yesterday to clean up and I reminded you _this morning_ to clean up and I reminded you an _hour_ ago that unless you clean up your room, you won't be going to practice."

            "But Mom, if I don't go to practice today, I don't get to play tomorrow. And Grandpa, Grandma, Memere, **and Uncle Eric, Aunt Francie, Uncle Will and Aunt Lucy are all coming! And I **can't** be sitting on the bench if they are all going to be there! Please Mom! I promise the second I come home, I'll clean it up! Please Mom!" Danny begged, flashing his deep green eyes at her. He always knew how to get to her. She could never say no to the green eyes, one of the many traits that he had picked up from his father, and one of the ones he cherished the most.**

            Sydney sighed and threw up her hands in defeat. "Fine. But if you don't clean it up tonight, I'll make sure you're benched tomorrow, I don't care who's going to be there."

            "Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!" Danny bounced up and down and kissed his mother on the cheek before rushing out the door to the car that was waiting for him. "Bye mom!!" He called over his shoulder as he jumped into the car.

            "Thanks again Paul!" Sydney called as she waved to the man behind the wheel of the car. She shut the door and heaved a large sigh. As she made her way to the kitchen she picked up a few scattered toys along the way, depositing them in the playpen in the corner of the living room. She moved through the house, picking up the discarded books and toys and placed them in their proper places. As she moved into the dining room she laughed as she scooped up her 4 year old daughter who was currently trying to persuade their old white bulldog to parade her around the room like a horse.

            "Bella, leave Donovan alone." Sydney smiled as the little girl squirmed in her arms, her sandy blond curls bouncing in Sydney's face. While Danny was the perfect image of his father, Bella was the perfect combination of the two of them, having inherited Vaughn's hair and chin while obtaining the rest of Sydney's facial features. The one thing truly special about her features, however, was her eyes; they sparkled green with a thin brown ring around the pupil.

            Sydney kissed the girl's forehead lovingly before placing the 4 year old on the floor. Bella smiled up a her mother for only a moment before rushing off, no doubt in search of Donovan, her favorite playmate.

            Sydney shook her head in amusement as she entered the kitchen to find Vaughn feeding their youngest in her highchair. Sydney brushed her hand over the little girl's head as she passed through to the fridge.

            Vaughn glanced up as Sydney passed him and smiled at his wife. "Danny off to practice?"

            "Yeah." Sydney sighed as she pulled a bottle of water out. "He got out of cleaning his room, _again." She took a drink as she sat down next to her daughter.  _

            "Yeah? How did he do that?" Vaughn chuckled as he tried to get the one year old to eat the cheerios in front of her.

            "Same way he always does. The eyes." She smiled as she took another sip of water. "That's the only times I wished he had my eyes. He knows that I can't say no to the green eyes." Sydney smiled as she wiggled her eyebrows up and down as she took another drink.

            "Well the green eyes are key." He smiled as he stood to remove his daughter from her highchair. "That is, after all, how I got you." He smirked as he leaned over to kiss her lightly before unstrapping his daughter. He picked up the giggling one year old and brought her over to the sink to clean her off.

            "Oh really?" Sydney challenged.

            "Yeah. That's why I'm glad Evelyn here has your eyes. It's going to be bad enough when she's a teen what with your looks. I'm going to be beating the boys away from her." Vaughn smiled as he wiped down his daughter.            

            "What about Bella? She's got green in her eyes." Sydney smiled as she stood and walked over to them, taking her newly washed daughter from him.

            "Well we'll just have to lock her up, now wont we?" Vaughn leaned over and kissed her lightly.

            "I think Danny's going to be the one we have to lock up." Sydney joked as she giggled at her daughter. "Huh, Evelyn? You're big brother is gonna be a heartbreaker!"

            Vaughn smiled as he threw a towel at them. "No, I am telling you. This one here's going to be trouble." He smiled as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the counter.

            "This angel?" Sydney gasped as she eyed her daughter. "How could this perfect little angel be trouble?" She mocked him. She brought Evelyn up to her father and smiled devilishly. "Never could this sweet little girl be trouble! Huh? Evelyn, give Daddy a kiss." She lifted the little girl up so that she could place an opened mouth smack on her father's cheek.

            Vaughn groaned and rolled his eyes as he swept his daughter up from Sydney's grasp and swung her around in the air as her laughter rang out. When he stopped, he brought her close and held her tight. Evelyn giggled and kissed him again. 

            "Cookie." She smiled as she saw a bag of chocolate ship cookies on the counter.

            "No you cannot have a cookie. You didn't finish your cheerios." Vaughn smiled at her.

            "Cookie!"

            "No."

            "Daddy, cookie?" She asked him again before placing another kiss on his cheek. "Love Daddy. Cookie!" Evelyn giggled as Vaughn caved and handed her a cookie as Sydney could only look on and laugh.

            "See? This one's going to kill me." Vaughn smiled down at his daughter as she munched away at her cookie.

            "Yum." She giggled at him as Sydney burst out into a fit of laughter.

            Danny burst into the house, his dirty blond hair sticking out at every angle, a side effect from his helmet. He threw the door open and slammed it shut, dumping all of his equipment in the hallway haphazardly before rushing into the living room. "DAD!" He called as he flew into the living room, only to find Donovan cowering under a table as Bella tried to coax him out. "DAD!" He shouted again as he raced into the kitchen to find both of his parents preparing dinner while Evelyn sat in the corner, in her highchair, watching.

            "Dad!" He spoke breathlessly as he bent over to catch his breath.

            "Yes?" Vaughn asked calmly as he turned to face his winded son.

            "I get to start!" Danny exclaimed once his lungs had relaxed.

            "What?" Vaughn exclaimed as a strangled cry ran out followed by a yelp.

            "I'll get that." Sydney sighed as she went to check on Bella.

            "Dad!" Danny shouted, pulling Vaughn's attention back on himself. "I'm starting tomorrow!!"

            "That's great!" Vaughn replied as he moved about the kitchen. "When did this happen?"

            "Today. I was on the ice and Coach Tuffs called me over and said I had really improved and he's putting me on as a starter…_offensively_!" 

            "Alright!" Vaughn cheered as he gave his son a high-five. He was about to inquire further when a shout rang out from the hallway.

            "DANIEL! I know I must be seeing things because I _know_ that this hallway **isn't** full of hockey equipment!"

            Danny cringed as Vaughn looked over at him. "You better go take care of that and your room. Or else she won't let you play. And she's set on that, there won't be anything I can do about it."

            Danny sighed defeated. "Ok, ok. I'm going." He slumped out of the room as Vaughn chuckled.

            Sydney entered a moment later, a red eyed Bella in her arms. "What happened?" Vaughn asked as he moved towards them.

            "Oh, she was trying to get Donovan out from under the table and she smacked her head on it and dropped a book onto Donovan's head." Sydney sighed as Bella sniffled.

            "Come here, baby." Vaughn cooed as he gathered Bella in his arms. "You wanna help Daddy finish dinner?" he asked as she nodded against him. "Ok."

            Sydney smiled. She loved to watch him interact with their children. His kindness and compassion that he showed with them never ceased to amaze her. She moved over to sit next to Evelyn as Vaughn and Bella moved around the kitchen, finishing dinner. As they finished up, Vaughn placed his daughter on the floor and instructed her to go tell her brother that dinner was ready.

           Vaughn smiled as he watched his daughter scurry from the room and turned to find Sydney sitting at the table, peacefully watching him. "What?"

            "Nothing." She smiled. "Just watching you."

            "Yeah? See anything you like?"

            Sydney chuckled softly as Vaughn moved towards her. "I dunno." She smiled as he leaned towards her. "Whatcha got to offer?"

            "Oh, nothing much." He smiled. "Just this." He whispered as he captured her lips with his own.

            Sydney leaned up into him as he placed his one hand on the high chair and the other on the table as to steady himself. Sydney placed a hand over his hand that rested on the highchair, her other hand reaching up to cup his cheek as she softly raked her nails across it.

            They stayed that way for a moment when a strangled noise came from the doorway. "UH! _So not what I wanted to be seeing first thing back in LA!"_

            Sydney broke away from Vaughn and turned towards the doorway. "ERIC!" She cried as she stood and ran into his arms. "I thought you guys weren't coming back till tomorrow?!" She looked over Weiss's shoulder as she gave him a hug and saw the woman walking in behind him. "FRANCIE!" She squealed as she rushed to hug her best friend.

            "Hey, Syd." France smiled as she pulled back.

            "What are you guys doing here?" Vaughn asked as he shook Weiss's hand and gave Francie a hug.

            "Well, we got an earlier flight." Francie informed him matter-of-factly. "We wanted to surprise you."

            "I can't believe you survived it out there for three years without coming back!" Sydney exclaimed as she led them to the table and they all sat down.

            "You make it sound like we were in some third world country in the middle of some war." Weiss joked as he accepted a drink from Vaughn.

            "Well in some ways you were." Vaughn joked.

            "Yeah, Langley; it's a dangerous jungle!" Weiss smiled as Danny and Bella entered the kitchen.

            "Uncle Eric! Aunt Francie! I thought you weren't coming until tomorrow?" Danny exclaimed as he embraced them both.

           "Well we thought we'd come early and surprise you." Francie smiled as she pulled Bella on to her lap. "Besides, we missed LA."

            "I missed you!" Bella giggled as she hugged Francie close. Despite the fact that she had a limited memory (given her age) and the fact that she had only met Francie a few times, she had immediately taken a liking to both Weiss and Francie, falling in love with them from the very first meeting.

            "Oh, well that's good, because Aunt Francie and I missed you!" Weiss called as he picked the little girl up off of Francie's lap and tossed her into the air, basking in the sound of her giggles as they called through the house. He placed her back down on the floor and turned to Sydney and Vaughn. "Well, we didn't want to interrupt anything. We just wanted to say "hey" and we'll see you tomorrow."

            "Are you joking?!" Sydney asked in amazement. "Eric Weiss sit your butt down! The two of you are not only staying for dinner, but you are not going to stay in that hotel that I know you booked since your house won't be ready for another two days. You are staying right here."

            "Oh, no Syd. We don't want to put anyone out." Francie insisted. "I mean, you already made dinner for the five of you and…"

            "Oh, please! First off, you are not putting us out. We can save all of this and order a couple of pizzas. And second, two years ago we converted the study into a guestroom after we found out about Evelyn. It's absolutely _no_ problem. And I _won't_ take no for an answer." Sydney protested.

            "I wouldn't fight it Fran," Vaughn advised. "Even after all these years being a Vaughn, she's still got the Bristow perseverance." Vaughn joked lightly.

            "Ok, ok, we'll stay." Weiss conceded, not wanting to be reminded of the 'wrath of Sydney'.

            Sydney and Vaughn woke up the next morning to find the upstairs eerily quiet. "Mike, why is there no sound coming from our children's rooms? It's almost 9:00"

            "I don't know. But they better not be bothering Eric and Francie." Vaughn replied as they rose from bed.

            "Oh, _geez." Sydney groaned as she threw on a sweatshirt and made her way downstairs, Vaughn following closely behind. _

            When Sydney reached the kitchen, she couldn't help but smile at the sight. Francie and Bella stood at the stove, cooking what appeared to be a fabulous breakfast while Weiss and Danny sat that the table discussing hockey and Danny's upcoming game, Evelyn bouncing on Weiss's knee. Vaughn came up behind Sydney and wrapped his arms around her waist, placing his chin on her shoulder. He laughed as he heard Danny stating to argue with Weiss over Weiss's new found love for the St. Louis Blues.

            "No way Uncle Eric! No way. I am telling you, this year _is_ the Kings' year!"

            Weiss turned when he heard Vaughn's laughter in the doorway. "You've created a monster, Mike. You've created a monster."

            "Yeah, whatcha gonna do about it?" Vaughn laughed as he and Sydney moved into the kitchen. "The Kings fascination started at birth."

            "Oh, you don't have to remind me, I remember. The first time I met this one he was wearing a Kings hat." Weiss smiled as he ruffled Danny's hair.

            "Really?" Danny inquired, truly fascinated.

            "Yeah. It was a gift from Uncle Will." Sydney smiled.

            "Uncle Will?! Coyotes-loving Uncle Will?!" Danny asked incredulously.

            "Well, he made sure there was a Coyotes hat in there too." Vaughn chuckled. "Said something about letting 'the kid' decide which team was best. But no kid of mine was going to be a Phoenix fan!" Vaughn smirked as Weiss burst out laughing.

            "Yeah, I don't know _what you would have done if Danny was a girl, Mike." Weiss joked._

            "Well, _Danielle would have been the fist female in the NHL." Vaughn smiled._

            "Man, really set on that name, aren't we now?"

            "More like the reasons behind it." Sydney smiled at her son, picturing his namesake.

            "Well, we all know _that story." Francie began. "But what about Bella and Evelyn? How did you come up with those names?"_

            Sydney smiled and leaned up against Vaughn. "Well, Evelyn was just a name I stumbled across on a business trip back when I worked at 'the bank' and Marie is Mike's Grandmother's name. So that's how we got Evelyn Marie." Sydney smiled at her daughter as she sat in Weiss's lap. "I loved it and when we found out about her, I knew I wanted to use that name."

            "What about Bella?" Francie asked.

            "Well, Michelle is obviously after Mike."

            "And her Bella?"

Sydney suddenly blushed and turned to her two oldest children. "Danny, why don't you and Bella go get dressed. We have to leave for the rink after breakfast."

            "Ok." Danny replied standing and holding his hand out to his sister. "Come on, Bel, let's go."

            Once her kids had left the room, Sydney turned back to Francie and Weiss. "Bella, well we got that name from a song. Amazingly enough, Bella was named after Dean Martin's "Bella Notte"."

            "Interesting choice. What made you think of that song?"

            Sydney giggled as Vaughn supplied the answer. "Bella was conceived during that song. I was on a Dean Martin kick." Vaughn smiled as he shrugged.

            "Oh, I totally understand that. Eric's been on a Frank Sinatra kick lately." Francie joked as her husband turned a light shade of red. "You two are so funny. What a pair." Francie smiled at them.

            "Yeah, just wait till Jack and Irina get here today." Vaughn smiled. "Now those two… I don't know how they were _ever married." _

            "My parents are not _that bad." Sydney insisted._

            "Alone, no. Together, now that's another story. And at a hockey game… now that's a whole different category in itself. Plus we are adding my mother to the mix. Danny is going to have the loudest cheering crowd there. Two CIA agents, one former agent, one CIA consultant-former agent, a CIA analyst, a CIA secretary, a chef, a former Russian spy, and a very rambunctious French grandmother cheering on her only grandson, it's going to be a nightmare." Vaughn smiled as everyone laughed as Bella ran down back into the room, dressed, and straight into Francie's arms.

            "MOM!" Danny's voice carried down from the top of the stairs. "Mom, I can't find my jersey!"

            "So much for a relaxing morning." Sydney rolled her eyes as she stood. "Ok! I'll be right up!" She called back to her son before turning to Vaughn. "You take care of Evelyn and I'll cover the other two." Vaughn nodded in agreement as Sydney turned to her oldest daughter. "Come on Bel, we'll go help Danny find his jersey and then do your hair, ok?" She held out her had for the child to take.

            "Ok. Can I have two braids today?" Sydney nodded. "With bows and sparkly barrettes and…" She continued as they made their way up the stairs.

            Weiss smiled as he handed Evelyn to Vaughn. "Today should definitely be interesting. What with the two of us in the stands together again with Will. It's going to be the Kings game of '05 all over again."

"Just you wait. You gotta remember Jack's going to be there. He may look calm and stoic but put him in a hockey arena with his grandson on the ice, I'm telling you, you won't recognize him."

"Really? Jack Bristow, closet hockey fan. I would have never guessed." 

"Come on Danny!" Lucy Tippin called as she stood in the stands next to Will. They all stood together in the cold arena, watching Danny skate across the ice as his peewee team vied of the championship.

They all winced as Danny was thrown against the boards. "Come on Danny! Hit him back!" Weiss called only to receive a smack on the arm from Francie. "Ow! Fran!"

"Eric! Don't encourage that!" She called.

"Fran, that's the way hockey goes." Sydney reassured her, having long become accustomed to seeing her son be on the giving and receiving end of a hit while on the ice.

She smiled as Vaughn called out against the ref, "Come on! That was holding! Do your job ref!"

"Mike! Keep it down with the insults!" Sydney whispered before turning to Francie. "Sometimes he forgets that this isn't a Kings' game." Both she and Francie giggled.

Brigitte Vaughn leaned over and smiled at Sydney. "William was the same way. Every time Michel was in a game and William went to see it, he would get so heated at the ref. Once he got thrown out of the rink for it. I was so embarrassed." She smiled fondly as Vaughn stood again to yell, this time accompanied by Jack Bristow.

"Oh, come _on_ ref! You call that tripping?! _THAT_ deserves a penalty?!" Vaughn shouted as one of Danny's teammates was led to the box.

"Come on now! That was interference!" Jack shouted as another of Danny's teammates was thrown against the boards.

Sydney leaned over and glanced at her mother from where she sat next to Jack. "Don't look at me!" Irina reasoned.

"He's _your_ husband." Sydney reminded her.

"Only on paper." Irina smiled at her daughter. Sydney could only laugh as her and her mother turned back to watch the game. While Jack and Irina would never be back to where they were when she was Laura Bristow, they were still legally married and were 'trying to work out their problems', though they had been 'trying to work out their problems' for the past nine years.

Danny ran up to his family at the end of the game, a broad smile playing across his face. "We won! We won! And I scored!" He shouted as he was engulfed in a mountain of hugs.

"That was great Dan!" Will smiled as he gave Danny a high five. "One day you'll be playing for the Coyotes."

"KINGS." Danny, Vaughn, Sydney and Jack all corrected him as Weiss replied, a bit lamely, "Blues."

Lucy burst into a fit of laughter at Will's hurt expression. "Face it babe, this is a Kings' family. You'll never win."

Will smiled mischievously as he scooped Evelyn up from Sydney's arms. "Well, I can still convert this one."

Vaughn smiled. "Oh, you think so? Evelyn, Evelyn, who is the best hockey team?" He asked his daughter sweetly.

"Kings!" She cried as she giggled in Will's arms.

Will groaned as he handed her to her father. "I will never win with you people!"

"Nope." Vaughn smiled as he handed his daughter a cookie. "My kids are Kings fans from conception."

"So I'm standing there, waiting as always, and he walks in, this HUGE _grin on his face and just says 'Hey Weiss, how's it going?'." Weiss sat in the living room, on the couch next to Francie as Will and Lucy sat in one of the overstuffed chairs in the room, Vaughn and Sydney in the other one, all listening to his tale. "So I ask him what in the _world_ is making him smile like that and where the _hell_ was he last night when I called him. I mean he had just gotten out of the hospital a week before. And he says to me 'nothing' and 'out'. So I ask, 'how's Alice?' You know a nice normal question and he tells me, 'oh, we broke up'. So I'm thinking he'd be at least a __little upset about it, right? I mean, breaking up with someone and all. But _no_! This one can't seem to wipe this God _awful _grin off his face!" Weiss cracks as they all laugh. "Little did I know he had spent the entire night making out with Sydney at the warehouse. And of course that was nothing compared to the smile on his face after their first night together." Weiss smiled as a blush crept onto Sydney and Vaughn's faces._

"_Why_, again are we listening to this?" Vaughn smiled at his best friend.

"Because. Your story is so much more interesting that ours!" Weiss reasoned.

"How so?!" Sydney questioned.

"We got together at a party." Weiss gestured to himself and Francie. "And you set them up." He gestured to Will and Lucy. "You two are the only ones who broke a whole bunch of federal lays as well as put both of your lives in danger to be together."

            "Doesn't that just make them idiots?" Will joked only to receive a pillow to the head. "Hey!"

            "Serves you right!" Sydney laughed. "I think it means that we were willing to risk everything for love."

            Will groaned as he stood. "That's our cue to leave," He smiled down at his wife and helped her stand. "Besides, I have to get this one to bed." He smiled as her draped an arm across Lucy's shoulders.

            "Was Mike this annoying with you, Syd?" Lucy asked as she put on her coat.

            "He was worse!" Sydney smiled at Vaughn's look of mock hurt. "Just wait till you start to show. It becomes that much worse!"

            "Joy." Lucy deadpanned. "Least he hasn't started baby proofing the house yet."

            "Nah. I've still got another 6 months to do that." Will smiled. "We'll see you guys tomorrow. What time again?"

            "The movers are coming at 10." Francie called.

            "Alright. Bye, all." Will called as he led his wife out to the car.

            "Ah, the joys of first time parenthood." Weiss smiled as he stood and stretched.

            "Indeed. When are you two going to join in the fun?" Vaughn smiled as they all stood.

            "I think we are just enjoying this time with the two of us." Francie smiled as she leaned against Weiss.

            "As much fun as that is, there is nothing like holding your baby for the first time and seeing them smile at you." Vaughn smiled as they all made their way into the hallway.

            "Yeah, who knows. Maybe now that we're back in LA permanently, we may just start talking about it." Weiss smiled as they reached the guest room. "Well, goodnight."

            "Night." Sydney and Vaughn chimed as they made their way up the stairs.

            Sydney poked her head in Bella and Evelyn's room as Vaughn checked in on Danny. She stood there watching her two daughters sleep when Vaughn came up behind her. "You're right." She whispered.

            "About what?"

            "There is nothing like holding your children and knowing that they were made from love." She smiled and closed the door to the girls' room.

            "Nope. Nothing like it." Vaughn smiled as they made their way into their room, closing the door behind them.

**            Authors note: Well, there we go. Don't get too comfortable in Fluffland; I plan on getting into the angst by the end of the next chapter. I have so many things planned for this, so sit back and get ready for a long ride. This shall be my longest fic to date, though my chapters maybe a bit smaller than the last fic's. **

**            Oh, and I don't know much about peewee hockey. High school, college (UHN!) and Pro, yes, but peewee no. So if I got some things wrong (like the allowance of checking) I apologize. And I have nothing against the Coyotes or the Blues. Personally I'm an ****Anaheim**** and LA girl (GO DUCKS!! #10 Jason KROG!!) Despite my east coast residence. I personally think they are great teams and totally love #33 on the Blues… Eric Boguniecki (former UNH player like my Krog.)**

**            Thanks for reading and please review and let me know what you think. **

**            Don't forget to check out Mental Break by Jennifer and myself (alternating chapters) I'm taking on the even's.**

**            Merci,**

**            - SAG**


	2. A Promise Broken

            **A/N: So it took me like, what two months to get the first chapter out? And now three days later I'm sitting here punching out the next one? Well it seems as though my muse, who had been on a vacation, has come back and won't seem to shut up (haha Jennifer…I still need a name!!)! I've completed this chapter as well as a one parter I'm trying out for the CM challenge which will be up later in the week. **

**            I'd like to thank you all for your lovely reviews. I was so pleased to get such a good response for the last chapter; I can only hope you all enjoy my venture into angst-ville for here is where the fun begins. At the end of this chapter, you may want to hit me, but this was something I thought of and I really want to run with it. I have all of these thoughts about how I'm going to do it and… well I'm excited.**

**            So here's chapter two. I want to thank you again for the reviews, especially…**

**_thesheeplover_**** – who went back and read all of the prequels. It always makes me smile when I see that people are taking the time to read my stuff. Glad you could join us!**

**And for _Jennifer_ – who wrote an amazing chapter to AUS this week and gave me a huge reception to the first chapter, including telling me that she HAD to be the first reviewer.**

**            And just a little side note to Lainie, yes I am SAG over at SD-1. **

**Ch.**** 2   A Promise Broken**

"Today was nice." Sydney smiled as she unlocked the front door, struggling under the weight of a sleeping Evelyn. "I missed being able to spend time with them like that."

            "Yeah, I did too." Vaughn smiled as they made their way inside the house, Bella asleep in his arms as Danny trudged in behind them. "I'm really glad Eric was transferred back here."

            "Me too." Sydney smiled as she placed her keys on the counter and made her way up the stairs, pushing Danny along in front of her, Vaughn and Bella behind them. 

            They made their way up to the bedrooms, Danny barely able to keep his eyes open. They had all spent the day helping Weiss and Francie move into their new home and were all exhausted. Sydney tousled Danny's hair as he peeled off into his room to change while she and Vaughn placed their sleeping daughters in bed.

            "I'm glad you thought to bring pjs for them." Vaughn whispered as he deposited the 4 year old into bed. "Made this a lot easier."

            "Mmm." Sydney smiled as she tucked in Evelyn and turned out the light. "I knew they would be exhausted by the end of the day." She smiled as she closed the door.

            They went into Danny's room to find him sitting on his bed in his pjs, yawning. "Night, sweetheart." Sydney called as she walked over to him and kissed him softly on the head.

            "Night mom." Danny mumbled through a yawn.

            "Get some sleep." Vaughn smiled as he tousled his son's hair affectionately. "We'll see you in the morning."

            "Uh-huh." Danny mumbled as his head hit the pillows; he was out cold before Sydney and Vaughn even shut the door.

            Sydney laughed as they made their way back down stairs and collapsed into the couch. "We are never telling anyone that we'll help them move, again." Sydney smiled as she flipped off her sneakers and brought her feet up under her.

            "We already told Will and Lucy that we'd help them with the nursery." Vaughn reminded her only to receive a groan in reply.

            "I'm sick of being a good friend." She whined as Vaughn laughed softly. "They owe us major babysitting time."

            "Well, maybe in a few weeks we'll have Eric and Francie take the kids for the weekend and we'll head up to Lake Tahoe."

            "That sounds nice." Sydney yawned as she leaned against Vaughn.

            "Come on, Sleepy. Let's go to bed." He smiled as he stood and held out his hand to her.

            "Sleepy? What am I, a dwarf?" She smiled as she took his hand and stood up.

            "Would you rather be Bedtime Bear?" Vaughn asked with a smirk.

            "Yes, actually, I would. I would much rather be a Care-Bear than a dwarf, thank you very much." She smiled as he pulled her along behind him up the stairs and into their bedroom.

            "You are one in a million, you know that?" Vaughn glanced at her as they changed for bed.

            "That's what they tell me." She smiled as she slipped between the sheets.

            Vaughn crawled in behind her, chuckling, and wrapped his arms around her as she snuggled up against him. "So Lake Tahoe?" She asked him sleepily.

            "Yeah, why not? You, me, the mountains, no kids, it could be fun." He whispered into her ear.

            "Let's do it." She whispered back softly.

            "Yeah, lets." He smiled and kissed her neck before closing his eyes.

            He turned over and reached out for her, but was met with only an empty pillow. Vaughn slowly opened his eyes to find Sydney had already gotten up and glancing at the clock, he wasn't surprised. He went down stairs to find Danny and Bella, still in their pjs, engrossed in a morning cartoon. Vaughn smiled as he walked past them and into the kitchen where Sydney was busy making breakfast while Evelyn made a mess in the corner as she ate.

            He walked over to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup as Sydney moved around the room, engrossed in both the preparation of breakfast and the conversation she was having with the other person on the phone.

            "No, I totally understand…Yeah that shouldn't be a problem…no, no…yeah, he just got up." She turned and smiled at Vaughn as he sipped his coffee. "Yeah, I'll talk to him about it…Ok. Give my love to Dad…you too…bye." She was all smiles as she hung up the phone and clicked off the stove. "Morning." She turned and kissed Vaughn lightly.

            "Morning. That your mom?" He asked and nodded towards the phone.

            "Yeah. She wants to get together next weekend."

            "What day?"

            "Sunday, I figured that wouldn't be a problem." She pulled out several plates and placed them on the table as she began dishing out breakfast.

            "Hmm." He mused as he began to walk out of the room.

            "That's ok, right?"

            "Hmm." Was all she got in response as he walked back upstairs to get dressed.

            The rest of the day, Vaughn was incredibly reserved. He barely spoke at all and when he did it was in short phrases. By 4 in the afternoon, Sydney had become annoyed extensively with his attitude and behavior and after Danny and Bella had been left for friend's houses and Evelyn had been taken by Will and Lucy ('getting-ready-for-baby-Tippin-training') she pulled him into the living room and sat him down.

            The weather outside seemed to parallel her emotions as it began to rain, softly at first, but increasingly heavier. "What the hell is going on with you?" She asked as she stood in front of him.

            "What are you talking about?"

            "Don't pull that with me, Michael. You've been distant and quiet all day and I want to know why." Her voice was strong but pleading as she looked at him.

            "I don't want to talk about it." He spoke softly.

            "Well that's just too damn bad, because I do. What the _hell_ is going on with you?"

            "I _really don't want to get into it Sydney." He said stronger._

            "You know what? I just don't care. We have _always_ been able to talk to each other about anything. _ANYTHING_, Michael." She glared at him. "So stay with that and tell me what the_ hell is going on with you."_

            "You wanna know what the _hell is going on with me!?" Vaughn stood as his voice rose to reach hers. "Fine! I find it overly amazing that your mother wants us to go and spend the day with her on Sunday."_

            "That's what this is about?! You don't want to go to my parents' on Sunday?" She asked in disbelief.

            "No, this is not just about going to visit your parents. It's about the audacity that, that _woman has to think that I would allow my children to visit with her on Sunday of all days!"_

            "Excuse me!?" Sydney hollered. "_Excuse me?! _Your children_? _Your_ children?! Since when are they __your children?!" _

            "Yes, _my children! My children who will not be forced to spend 'quality time' with that…_woman._"_

            "That _woman is my mother!" Sydney couldn't believe her ears._

            "You're damn right she is! Your mother who ruined my _life_ at the age of 8. Who took away my father and left my mother a widow. Your mother who forced my children to never know what a wonderful person my father was, all because of her."

            Sydney stood in front of him, listening as he let it all out, but by the end she had become just as emotional and angry as he was. "We talked about this and we both agreed she would never receive nor deserve forgiveness for that. But we also promised never, **never_¸_ to deny our children the right to see their grandparents. Or to fight about this. That it was something that neither of us could fix. We promised that to ourselves, to each other, and to our children." Her voice had calmed as she finished but Vaughn was too upset and heated to realize it.**

            "That's right we did. Unfortunately because of one grandparent they can never meet another! I don't think you see that. God! I've been so blind!" Vaughn cried in exasperation as he ran a hand through his hair. "That's it, isn't it? You got your mother back and you stopped caring about what happened in the first place. You stopped caring about what _she_ did to _me!"_

            "How could you ever think that?" Sydney's voice had dropped to a whisper but she spoke with true vehemence.  Tears swelled in her eyes as she locked them on Vaughn's. "You know that you and our children are the most important things to me."

            "Yeah, well, I just don't see it. I sometimes think everyone would have been better off if we never had gotten together. Life would have been a lot simpler had I just married someone else." Vaughn finished.

            Tears spilled over onto Sydney's cheeks as she heard him and she wanted to be sick. She briskly walked over to the hallway and threw on a jacket. She grabbed her keys and purse and looked over at him. "Fine. You know what, maybe it would have been. But no one is keeping you here Michael. No one _forced you to marry me. So just do whatever the hell you want." She cried as she walked to the door and left the house, slamming the door behind her._

            Vaughn glanced at the spot where she had been standing only a moment before and couldn't believe that the words he had spoken had actually come out of his mouth. The fact that they had, made him sick. As he heard her peel out of the driveway, he made to chase after her but as he passed the table that she had picked her keys up from, something caught his eyes. There lying on the table were Sydney's wedding rings.

            Vaughn stared at them for only a moment before he collapsed to the floor, tears streaking down his face as the storm raging its way outside drowned out his cries.

            He paced around the room, the phone in his hand. No one had heard from her in the 3 hours that she had been gone and as the clock made its way towards 8 o'clock, Vaughn began to panic. It was getting dark and the roads were wet and dangerous and she was emotional. He was about to call Weiss and Francie again when there was a knock on the door. He rushed to open it, only to find an officer standing on the other side.

            "Can I help you, officer?" Vaughn asked, fear surging through his body.

            "Mr. Vaughn?" Vaughn nodded as the officer removed his hat. "My name is Officer Kane. I'm sorry to be the one to inform you that your wife has been involved in an accident."

            Vaughn's heart stopped for a moment as the words of the officer sunk in. "Is she…is she ok?"

            "She was taken to St. Joseph's hospital." The officer informed a shell shocked Vaughn.

            Vaughn nodded and reached behind him to grab his coat, keys and cell phone. "Mr. Vaughn, am I to be correct in stating that you are an intelligence officer for the CIA?" Vaughn nodded absentmindedly as he made his way outside. "If you'd like, I can lead the way, getting you there faster." Vaughn simply nodded as he followed the officer into his car and followed the cruiser out of the driveway.

            As Vaughn followed the officer down the street, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed Weiss's number. His voice was shaking as he spoke, tears pouring down his face. "Eric? It's Mike…Yeah, um well she got into an accident. I'm on my way to the hospital now…no I have no idea how she is…I need you to go to my house and be there when Danny and Bella get dropped off and um call Will and let him know and have him meet us at the hospital with Evelyn. And I need you to call Jack and my mother too and then if you could, bring the kids to St. Joseph's that would…thank you Eric. Thank you…Yeah I'll let you know…Ok…I'll see you in a bit. Thanks." Vaughn hung up as he pulled in behind the officer at the hospital.

            He clicked the car into park and turned it off, making a mad dash for the entrance, Officer Kane following behind. He reached the receptionist and after a few rushed words, ran down the corridor to find his wife.

            Outside her door he was met with a tall white coated man holding a clip board. "Mr. Vaughn, I'm Dr. Bloomer."

            "How is she?" Vaughn pressed, wanting to know how his wife was, not the doctor's life story.

            "Your wife was admitted after another car and her's collided on the highway. The roads were wet and the rain was making it difficult to see. She came in and we took her straight to the ER where we tended to a broken left wrist and 5 stitches on the left side of her head. There is no internal bleeding and no other broken bones." Vaughn heaved a sigh of relief. "However, the severe trauma and shock as forced your wife's body to go into shut down and she has slipped into a coma."

            Vaughn's heart stopped for the second time that night as he followed the doctor into Sydney's room. New tears welled in his eyes as he saw his wife lying on the hospital bed, her left wrist in a cast and numerous wires protruding from her body. "Will she…will she wake up?" Vaughn spoke so softly it was barely a whisper.

            "We've done a few CAT scans and MRI's and concluded that she hasn't suffered any brain damage as far as we can tell. In all likely hood she will wake up. It's just a question of when. The next 72 hours will really be crucial. They'll let us know whether she will be able to wake up. I have every hope that she will." He paused and looked over at Vaughn, who stood staring at his wife. "All we can do now is wait."

            "Thank you." Vaughn whispered as Dr. Bloomer nodded and quietly left Vaughn alone with his wife.

            Vaughn took the last remaining steps to reach her bedside and looked down at Sydney. She looked so peaceful. He could feel the tears falling down his face but made no move to stop them. "Oh, baby." Vaughn whispered as he dropped to his knees and clutched her hand in both of his own.

            "Baby. You have to come back to me. God. Sweetie, I am so sorry. You know I…I…" He couldn't get the words out as a sob wracked his body. "You can't leave me." He whispered as he brought his forehead down to their joined hands. "Please, Sydney, come back to me."

**            A/N: So? Was it ok? I've never done angst but I seem to be in an angst mood and BOOM! Out comes this chapter. I have this really cool idea for the next like at least 10 chapters. I'm talking long fic. This one is going to be a long work in progress. But I have vacation next week so expect at least one new chapter if not more. Don't expect big happiness in this one for a while. I have entered in angst-ville and I plan on settling down for a while.**

**            I hope I got the doctor and the officer parts ok. No one in my family is a doctor and the only car accident I've had experience with, my brother was in and he wasn't hurt so I don't know much. I'm only 17!!**

**            I hope you enjoyed it and are looking forward to more. I was so excited to get this chapter out because now I get to start on the chapters I really want to write. Oo I am so excited!!!**

**            And the Ducks won again last night!! YAY! Which means the Red Wings are out and the Ducks are moving on!! GO DUCKS!! Jean-Sebastian Giguere Rocks my world (167 saves out of 171 shots on goal in the 4 playoff games!!) And so doesn't Jason Krog (two playoff goals so far!!)**

**            And thanks Nana for cheering on my Ducks with me!!**

**            GO ANEHEIM!!**

**            Thanks for reading and please review and let me know what you are thinking. I'd really like a response for this given that it is my first time in angst-ville.**

**            Merci,**

**            -SAG**


	3. Not Yet

**            A/N: Hello! Ok, so I updated yesterday and yet…here I am. Seriously, Muse is on a roll!! (Anyone got a name idea? My poor muse is nameless here!!) So, I love you all for the lovely reviews and since I'm currently rocking out to some seriously good old music… Remember the Titans soundtrack baby! (Don't ask, you'll only be frightened more) I am updating again. And look forward to more and more because well… I have vacation. So review (because it fuels my muse (that and good music…any suggestions?)) and enjoy!!**

**            Just quickly, the beginning is going back to ****Sydney**** when she was in the car. Gotta fuel the angst train. And then we are going to go back to Vaughn by her hospital bed from where we left off in the last chapter. I thought about putting the ****Sydney**** part in italics, but decided against it. Hope it's not too confusing!**

**Don't forget to read my note at the bottom!!!**

**Ch.**** 3   Not Yet**

            She ran from the house, tears streaking down her face. She couldn't believe he had said those things to her. She always though that he would never hurt her, would never blame her for that. She thought they had worked past that over the years. No one was completely happy with her mother always, it just wasn't possible, but they had moved past where they had been years before and she had an actual relationship with her now. But she would give it all up for him. He was everything to her and she thought she was everything to him, obviously she was wrong.

            As she peeled out of the driveway, she looked to her left hand and more tears fell at the bare ring finger that she saw. She knew she was being overly emotional and drastic when she took them off, but he had declared that he had felt he made a mistake in marrying her and she wouldn't be with someone who didn't want to be with her. She would take her children and start over somewhere else. She would never allow herself to be held down by a man who didn't love her. And that's exactly how she felt, like Vaughn didn't love her.

            She drove in the rain, wondering where the water was falling harder, outside her car or down her cheeks. She knew that the roads were dangerous and while she was angry and needed to get away, she didn't want to be in an accident that would take her from her children. She may have been losing a husband, but she will never lose her children.

            Sydney pulled over into a nearby park and pulled into a space. She stared out at the rainy scene before her and took several deep breaths. She pulled out her date book and began to flip through the address book, looking for Francie and Weiss's new number. She needed some where to stay for the night and she knew that they would be more than willing to help her out. As she passed the calendar for the week, her eyes stopped on next Sunday and her eyes grew wide. Everything made sense as she realized just what Sunday was. 

            Throwing the date book onto the passenger seat, she grabbed her cell phone and called the house. There was no answer so she tried Vaughn's cell phone. It was possible that he was out just as she was, after all they had both been angry and they both needed something to alleviate the anger, he was most likely at the rink. When she got his voice mail, her heart dropped a bit, but she left a message nonetheless.

            After hanging up the phone, she pulled the car back out on to the road and began to make her way home. The storm had gotten worse and she hoped that Bella was ok at her friend's house. She had always been frightened of thunderstorms and this one would be not exception. She was expecting a call to be at home for her, asking her to come get her very frightened child.

            She made her way down the road, wanting to get home for her children and to talk to her husband, to let him know that she was ok with everything. She didn't see the other car lose control as it hit a block of black ice, hidden in the March thunderstorm. She didn't see it until it was too late and it was making its way towards her. Her last thought before everything went black was her children and her husband, and a hope that she would be able to see them again.

            He sat by her side for a few moments, crying softly as he listened to the steady beat of the heart monitor. Lifting his head, he looked at her, looking so peaceful and new tears began to fall. After a moment, he realized there were things he needed to do. Standing, he placed a light kiss on her forehead, smoothing down her hair, before heading quietly out the door.

            The first person he came in contact with was Officer Kane. Vaughn took a moment to compose himself as he neared the officer. "Officer Kane, I want to thank you for everything you've done." Vaughn held out his hand for the man before him to shake.

            Officer Kane took Vaughn's hand and shook it as he spoke. "It was no problem at all. The Vaughn's and the Bristow's are known in the police circuits for all your work on the SD-6 case a decade ago." Vaughn nodded as Officer Kane placed his hat back on his head. "Is there anything else I can do?"

            "No. No, you've done more than enough. Thank you." Vaughn reassured him.

            "My prayers are with you and your wife." Officer Kane smiled sadly before turning to leave.

            "Thank you." Vaughn called quietly after the retreating officer.

            As he made his way down the corridor, Vaughn pulled out his cell phone and clicked it on. He immediately dialed Weiss's number to let his friend know what was happening and to make sure that he, himself, was the one to tell his children what had happened. How he was going to do so, he had no idea, but he knew he had to be the one to do so. He thanked Weiss again before hanging up, knowing that he'd be with his family within the half hour.

            He began to wander through the hallways, hoping to make his way back to Sydney's room, but instead found himself standing outside the hospital's chapel. Vaughn glanced inside and seeing that no one was in there, walked in and took a seat in one of the pews.

            He sat there for a moment, relinquishing in the quiet and solitude of the chapel as he let the events of the past few hours wash over him. The argument that started it all played over and over in his mind as he looked at the alter. As he played his last few words over in his mind, his heart contracted, knowing that his final words to his wife could have been those of hatred and regret for their marriage, something he had never felt. His body contracted as tears rushed to his eyes and he began to sob again, falling to his knees in prayer.

            "You have to bring her back to me. Do you hear me? I refuse to let you take her from me. We have been through too much in our lives to deserve this. _She_ has been through too much. She doesn't deserve to die like this." He whispered as silent tears fell down his face.

            "Everything we've been through to get to here, everything we had to endure just to be happy … I _won't lose that. I __can't lose that." He took a deep breath as he glanced up at the alter again._

            "God, I can't live without her. She is my everything. She's the reason I get up in the morning. How and I supposed to keep going if she's not with me? Please, I'm not as strong as she is. I can't … I can't do this alone."

            His beeper vibrated in his pocket and he extracted it to look at the small screen. Weiss and Will were on their way, all three of his children with them.

            Vaughn's heart broke again as he realized he'd have to explain everything to his children. "You can't take her yet. They need her. Danny … Danny adores his mother. She is so very important to him. And Bella … Bella, my little beauty. How am I supposed to tell her that her mommy might never wake up?" He bent his head for a moment, collecting his thoughts.

            "And Evelyn. My precious little baby. She's just gotten to start to know what an amazing wonderful person her mother is. I can't do this alone." Tears were streaming down his face in a steady river as he spoke. "I don't care how much good she'd do for you up in heaven. _I don't care_. You will _not force my children to grow up the way we did, with only one parent. You _won't_. You can't have her yet. I'm not ready to give her up." Vaughn looked up to the ceiling. "I'm not ready to lose her."_

            Vaughn stood and wiped the tears from his face. After looking towards the alter once more, he quickly whispered, "Not yet." before walking back towards Sydney's room, preparing himself to tell his children what was happening.

            He was almost at her door when he heard a beep from his pocket. Pulling out his cell phone he realized he had a voice message. He opened it up and placed the phone to his ear, listening to the message left on his phone. His eyes opened in horror and tears began to fall once again as he listened to the voice on the other end.

            **A/N: Hehehe! Thought that was a good place to end it. Am I evil? Well let me just tell you that the muse is seriously on a roll and I have so many thoughts running through my head that I don't know how I am going to get them all out. So don't fret, I may just have another update tomorrow. Who knows?**

**            Let me know what you thought. I would really like to know what you think. I've never really written these kinds of speeches, the ones where one person is being for the life of another and I would like to know how you think I did.**

**            Kristal – It's a big mystery what I'm on. All I know is that it must be feeding my muse!!**

**            Tricia – I never actually thought of that. But that would have been interesting!!**

**Niterockstar – I just load them as a web page rather than a text doc and it keeps all my formatting!**

**            Thanks for reading and give me those reviews! The faster you all review the quicker I write. **

**            Merci,**

**            -SAG******


	4. She Will Come Back to Us, Won't She?

            **A/N: Here we go. Ch 4 is here. And I currently LOVE my stay in Angst-ville. I am just having way too much fun. I want to thank you all for your reviews (and the suggestions on naming my muse…some of them are very interesting). I decided that I wouldn't be completely evil and we shall start this chapter off with the phone message. So the first paragraph is going to be the final paragraph of ch. 3 and then we'll go from there. My chapters are most likely going to be a lot shorter than my normal ones but that's only because I want to have specific chapters for each thing that I am doing. You'll get the picture as I keep it going.**

**            Thanks again for all your reviews and I hope you enjoy this chapter. I am going on whatever is currently in my head, no prewriting this time (family is here for Easter and I need to get away). **

**CH.**** 4   She'll Come Back to Us, Won't She?**

            He was almost at her door when he heard a beep from his pocket. Pulling out his cell phone he realized he had a voice message. He opened it up and placed the phone to his ear, listening to the message left on his phone. His eyes opened in horror and tears began to fall once again as he listened to the voice on the other end.

            His body froze as he heard her soft voice floating through the phone and his feet stayed glued to the spot right outside her door. The tears that he had tried so hard to hide for his children's sake were falling rapidly as she spoke over the phone.

            _"Michael, Michael it's me. Oh, baby, I am so sorry. If you had told me…well that doesn't matter. I should have remembered. Baby, I cannot tell you how sorry I am. There is no question about what we will be doing on Sunday. That is a day that we will always honor your father on. Michael, you have to understand that I was just so frazzled at everything. I never meant to hurt you or disrespect your father in anyway; you know how much I wish I could have met him._

_            "Mike, I love you so much and I promise that we will spend the day with your mother on Sunday. I cannot excuse what my mother did, thinking that we wouldn't be with your family on the anniversary of your father's death. She and I will be having a long talk about it. Baby,"_ her voice stopped for a moment as she took a deep shaky breath. _"Baby, I am so sorry. I can only hope that you can forgive me for my memory lapse. I know you probably found my…my wedding rings on the table. Michael, I was angry and hurt. What you said to me,"_ she drew in another breath. _"You hurt me Michael. We need to talk about what we are going to do about this. I know that you were hurt and upset and I don't blame you for your words, I know more than anyone, that in the heat of the moment, things that we don't want to say come out, things we don't mean. But it hurt nonetheless._

_            "I'm going to be heading home now. You're probably at the rink. Baby, please be careful on the roads. They are really getting bad out and I wouldn't forgive myself if you were in an accident. Know that I love you and that I will always love you. Ok? I'm going to go. I love you Michael. I love you."_

The mechanical voice at the other end informed him that the message had completed, but Vaughn could barely hear anything around him. Her words kept replaying in his head. "_I love you Michael. I love you._" He glanced towards her door and was about to enter when he heard the familiar babble of his children coming down the hall way. He quickly wiped the tears from his face, not wanting to frighten his children anymore than he knew they would already be, and turned to face them.

Weiss and Will walked down the hall in the front with Danny between them, their faces long. At the age of 9, Danny could sense when things weren't going right and when something was wrong. When he returned home only to find Weiss, he knew something had happened. 

Francie and Lucy followed behind them, Bella in Francie's arms as Evelyn was cradled in Lucy's. Bella had tears streaming down her face as Francie tried to comfort her the best she could. Spotting her father, she immediately scrambled out of Francie's arms and flew to her father, who bent down to scoop her up in his arms. Bella clung to his neck as he held her tightly, tears falling down both of their faces. Though she was only 4, she was incredibly perceptive and knew there was something terribly wrong.

"It's going to be ok, Baby." Vaughn soothed his daughter as he stood, Bella still clinging to his neck as he kept his arm around her waist. "Danny." Vaughn called softly as his son walked into his embrace.

"What's going on?" Danny asked softly as he hugged his father.

"Mom, Mom was in an accident." Vaughn spoke quietly as Bella sobbed into his neck.

"Is she going to be ok?" Danny asked as tears welled in his eyes.

"Yeah, she's going to be…" Vaughn took a breath, knowing that he couldn't lie to his children. He and Sydney had made a promise never to lie to them and he refused to break another promise to her. "I don't … I don't know. She's slipped into a coma right now. But the doctors are doing everything they can and have every hope that she will wake up."

Danny nodded as tears began to cascade down his face. He clung to his father's side as Bella looked into Vaughn's eyes. "What's a coma?"

"It means…it means that Mommy is a deep sleep and doesn't want to wake up." Vaughn replied quietly as Weiss, Will, Francie and Lucy looked on, silent tears falling down Francie and Lucy's faces. 

"When is she going to wake up?" Bella asked innocently.

"I don't know baby. I don't know." Vaughn whispered back as Bella nodded and laid her head back down against his neck. "Thank you for bringing them." Vaughn said to Weiss and all as they stood in front of him.

"It was nothing." Francie assured him as she tried unsuccessfully to wipe the tears from her face. "How is she?"

"They don't think there is any brain damage, but they really don't know much else. They said if she doesn't wake up in the next 72 hours…"He paused for a moment, looking down at the face of his sleeping daughter as she lay softly against Lucy's shoulder. "If she doesn't wake up in the next 72 hours, they don't know if she ever will." He finished at a whisper as Danny clung tighter and tears seeped out from Bella's eyes once again.

"Can we go see her?" Danny asked softly, looking up at his father.

"Yeah. Come on." Vaughn tried to force a smile as he turned and led the group into Sydney's room.

Pushing open the door, Vaughn could feel Danny gripping his hand tighter as his eyes caught sight of his mother. Bella lifted her head for only a moment before plunging back into the crook of Vaughn's neck, tears racking her body. Francie collapsed into Weiss's arms as sobs began to penetrate her body as she glanced at her best friend.

"She looks so peacefully." Danny whispered as he watched his mother, the heart monitor creating a steady beep in the background.

"Well she is. Her body is just taking a much needed rest." Vaughn tried to be as optimistic as he could, for his kids' sake. 

"She will come back to us, won't she Dad?" Danny asked softly as he pulled away from his father and walked closer to Sydney's side.

"Of course she will. She loves you all too much to leave now." Weiss spoke out as the inside of Vaughn's throat stuck together, tears falling down his face.

Vaughn turned to Weiss and smiled his thanks. "Did you call Jack?" He asked him softly as he placed Bella on the floor.   
            "Yeah. He is on his way. He's stopping to pick up your mom on the way." Weiss reassured him as Vaughn nodded. "Mike." Weiss whispered pulling Vaughn away from everyone else. "I know you said you got into a pretty bad fight. And when I got to the house I, I saw these and I figured you may want them." He spoke softly and apologetically as he reached into his pocket and pulled something out, placing it in the palm of Vaughn's hand.

Vaughn looked down into his palm to see the two tiny circles sparkling up at him; Sydney's wedding rings. Tears threatened to fall as he remembered finding them on the table. "Thank you Eric." Vaughn whispered back as he closed his fast around them and placed them into his pocket.

After a while they couldn't stand to just be there with her, it was too much for all of them, so they made their way to the waiting room, to wait upon the arrival of Jack and Brigitte, so that Vaughn could inform them of the situation. 

When Jack and Brigitte arrived, they arrived to find a quiet and subdued group, most of which were staring off into space, Bella asleep on Francie's lap, Evelyn on Lucy's as Danny sat next to Vaughn, quietly staring at his hands. 

Jack and Brigitte rushed over to the group and were updated on the situation. Jack's face fell instantly when he was told about Sydney, the imagery running through his mind enough to make anyone sick, especially the father of the victim. Listening to Vaughn speak softly, Jack was over come with a sudden loss. Though his daughter was only a little ways away from him physically, she was so far away emotionally. 

"I'd like to go see her." He told Vaughn quietly. Vaughn nodded in understanding and stood to lead Jack to Sydney's room.

Vaughn stepped in front of the door and took a deep breath before pushing open the door. Even though he had been in here many times before over the past few hours (he had kept getting up every 15 minutes to check on her) he always had to steady himself for what he was about to see. Every time it took his breath away and broke his heart just a little bit more to see her like that. Bruises had begun to appear on the left side of her body as the night had progressed and it killed him to see her in so much pain, knowing that had he never said what he did, she would have never left the house.

Vaughn and Jack walked up to her beside and Jack's eyes began to well with tears at the sight of his only child, lying in a coma on the hospital bed. He turned to Vaughn and whispered almost inaudibly "Mike, can I have a little time alone with her?"

Vaughn nodded in understanding and silently kissed her forehead softly before leaving Jack alone with his daughter.

Jack moved closer to the bed and took Sydney's hand in his own. "Oh, Sydney." Jack whispered softly. "My sweet Sydney. You don't deserve this."

**A/N: ok. So that's where I am going to end! I know. I am being way to evil lately. BUT see, each chapter from now on is going to be a different person talking to her. Does that sound good to you all? I sure hope so. Well. Let me know what you think. So far this story has been the one that has received the most response in the least amount of chapters and it makes me write that much quicker.**

**I also am working on the second chapter of **If Only Once More **since everyone seems to want a second chapter.**

**Let me know what you think and I should have the next chapter out by tomorrow or Tuesday (depending on my schedule and such) But like I said, vacation this week. Who knows I might finish it this week.**

**Merci,**

**-SAG**


	5. Author's Note

Sorry this is just a little Authors Note:  
  
I completely hate that last chapter. So it's gone and I am re-writing it. I mean.. it's just ew. It will be back again tomorrow much better written. I was skeptical about posting and well, I've decided to re-write before I gag every time I read. Sorry for those wanting the 5th chapter. tomorrow. I promise. -SAG 


	6. Princess

**            A/N: The first version of this, well it was missing stuff. Basically I felt it sucked. And yes I know authors are our own worst critics but I refused to let it stay knowing I could do so much better. So its ****2:39**** on Sunday and I'm starting my revisions… here is the big question. How long is this gonna take me? I dunno but it isn't going up till I am completely happy with it.**

**            And Jack may seem a bit OOC but remember- I went AU a LONG time ago (I'm talking ch 3 of my original fic and I am now on ch 5 of the 4th-quel (that's 25 chapters later. I think its ok.))**

**            And side note to Kristal… its still a mystery (it's actually a joke between my friends and I who are all convinced that I'm on like coke or something. But alas, it's just who I am.)**

**            Oh and same deal, final paragraph of ch. 4 is first of ch. 5**

**Ch.**** 5    Princess**

            Jack moved closer to the bed and took Sydney's hand in his own. "Oh, Sydney." Jack whispered softly. "My sweet Sydney. You don't deserve this."

            Jack stood above his daughter, watching silently as she lay there. His breath became labored as he blinked away the tears that threatened to fall. Gripping her hand tighter, he moved to sit down in the chair by her bedside.

            "Some things never change. Even lying here in a coma you are still as stubborn as ever. Though I guess I can only blame myself and your mother for that. We do have our stubborn sides. Oh, who the hell am I kidding? We are the two most stubborn pains in the ass in California." Jack laughed lightly as he shifted in his seat. "You and I," he took a deep breath, trying to compose himself. "We are two very stubborn people, Sydney. And it's with ourselves that we are the most stubborn with. We never want to admit when we could be wrong. At least I don't. You, on the other hand, you became this wonderful woman who is willing to admit when she is wrong and… and I don't want to lose you."

            Tears began to slowly stream down his face as he spoke. He couldn't remember the last time he had broken down and cried, but if there was a good as time as any, now was it. "You and I had a very… strained really doesn't cover it but I guess it will have to do … relationship when you were growing up. We never talked, we barely saw each other, and it was my fault. I pushed you away. I know I did. Even back then, I knew what I was doing. But Sydney, it was just too damn hard to be around you, knowing that I failed you by letting her leave. And I thought, I honestly thought, that you were better off without me. Now, now I think that I really may have screwed up big time."

            "Then again, I guess that's obvious. You would have never had such a hard life if I wasn't so _determined all the time to make things the way I thought they should be. And by alienating you, you didn't learn certain things that only a parent can teach you. Mainly, how to deal with your problems instead of running from them. This whole mess could have been avoided if I had stuck around long enough to teach you that as a child."_

            "When Eric called me, I broke. He didn't tell me much, just that I needed to get to the hospital, something had happened and you were there. I think I broke every driving law in the state to get here." Jack laughed bitterly as he wiped the tears from his face. "When I was driving here, I racked my brain trying to remember times from your childhood, happy times. I wanted to remember your smile and the way it used to light up a room. And as I drove, I realized, I didn't see you smile as much as normal children. There were so few times that you were happy. And that sickens me to my core." His face contorted in disgust before falling back into a slight frown. "I tried so hard and when I finally got a good memory in place, it was from so long ago."

            "Do you remember the time when you were five and I took you to the zoo for the day?" He spoke softly as his thumb moved across her hand in a soothing motion. "You were on vacation and your mother was working so it was just you and me. I asked you what you wanted to do and you told me you wanted to go to the zoo. Plain and simple." Jack smiled at the memory. "I don't remember ever seeing you as happy as a child as you were that day. That smile, the room-brightening one, it was there all day long. That's one of the things I treasure most about that day."

            _Jack walked into the kitchen to find his daughter sitting at the table, a giant plate of eggs and pancakes in front of her. She smiled up happily at him as he entered the room._

_            "Morning, Daddy."_

_            "Morning, Princess." He replied as he kissed her gently on the forehead. "Did Mommy make you breakfast?"_

_            "Uh-huh. Your plate is in the oven, staying warm."_

_            "Thank you." He smiled as he walked over and extracted his plate before grabbing a cup of coffee and the newspaper and joining his daughter at the table._

_            "When are you going to work?" Sydney asked as she took a bite of her eggs, wondering who would be staying with her today, maybe Nancy. She liked __Nancy__; she always brought games with her._

_            "I'm not. I took the day off to spend with you."_

_            "Really?" __Sydney__ asked as her eyes widened in surprise. She never_ spent the day alone with her father.__

_            "Really." Jack assured her as he sipped his coffee, delighting in her smile as it grew wide. "So, Princess, what do you want to do today?"_

_            "Hmm." She bit her bottom lip in thought as she scooped up a bite of pancake and shoveled it into her mouth. "I vanna vo voo va vod." she replied, her mouth full._

_            "Chew and swallow and then talk, please. No talking with your mouth full." Jack reprimanded softly._

_Sydney__ quickly chewed her food and swallowed, taking a big drink of milk to unstick her mouth. "Sorry. I wanna go to the zoo." She tried again, looking shyly towards her father._

_            "Hmm." Jack turned the page in his newspaper and pretended to contemplate over it. "Why would you want to go to the zoo?"_

_            "Because! There are so many animals at the zoo, Daddy!" __Sydney__ squealed._

_            "Are there? Like what?" He loved baiting his daughter, if only to see her smile grow wider._

_            "Um, monkeys. And tigers and lions and giraffes and elephants and rhinososauruses." __Sydney__ smiled. Despite her excellent vocabulary for her age, there were still a few words she had trouble with._

_            Jack smiled at her as she rattled on about the different animals they would see. The heat he had taken for wanting the day off was completely worth it for him to see her reaction. He sighed in mock defeat and folded his paper, placing it on the table. "I suppose. If that's what you really want to do today."_

_            "YAY!" __Sydney__ cried as she jumped up from the table and ran to embrace her father. "Thank you Daddy!"_

_            "Alright, alright." Jack chuckled as he pried his daughter off of him. "Finish your breakfast and then we'll get read to go." Jack smiled as he rushed back to her seat and began to devour her meal, the anticipation for the day building._

            "We had a lot of fun that day." Jack smiled sadly. He sat there for a moment in silence, listening to the steady _beep, beep of the heart monitor. "It took us a long time, but we're finally back to that place. We're finally back to the kind of relationship we should've had when you were a child. I chide myself everyday knowing that I wasted so much time." His memory began to jog again as he remembered her in different stages of her life. "After I remembered that day, I worked harder trying to remember more. There are so many gaps. Your life, I wish I knew every aspect of your life from your childhood, but I just don't. As insane as that is. My mind was racing as I talked to Mike. He's broken Sydney. If you are to come back for anyone, it should be him."_

            Suddenly his face brightened a touch. "I remember one time when you were 16. God, I had finally gotten a break and I was home for the first time in months. You were going to some school dance and you had a date; some senior. I hated him. I remember your nanny informing me of it and the anger I felt. You were my little girl; you were most certainly not old enough to be going out on dates. But when I saw you walk down those stairs, I knew that I was wrong. I hate being wrong. But I was. You were no longer the little girl who loved to go to the zoo, you were a young woman and I had to let you live that way."

_            She twirled around, admiring the way the dress fell on her body. The soft black satin caressed her skin as it hung around her perfectly. Her hair was piled loosely on the top of her head, a few curls hanging down, framing her face._

_            She slipped on her shoes and double checked her dress, hair, makeup and jewelry. She wore only a simple pair of earrings and a bracelet with her dress. She smiled softly at the framed picture sitting on top of her vanity. She whispered softly as she walked towards the door, "Night, Mom" and proceeded downstairs._

_             His face broke into a smile as she reached the bottom stair. The little girl he had remembered was gone, replaced by a young woman who looked so much like her mother. He smiled widely at her, basking in the way she blushed under her father's scrutiny, he had never seen a more beautiful creature. "__Sydney__, you look lovely."_

_            "Thanks Dad." She gave him a smile, knowing he was trying. Having him home for this was something she wasn't used to and she was excited and scared all at the same time._

_            "But there is something missing."_

_            "What?" She asked apprehensively._

_            "You don't have a necklace."_

_            "I know. There wasn't one that looked nice with this." She ran her hand over her neckline sadly. She had searched through her jewelry for days looking for the perfect piece but nothing seemed to fit. Her mother's jewelry case was sitting in her father's room, but she had been too frightened to go in there and look through it, he kept everything about her mother so guarded. She knew he still hurt._

_            "Well, how about this one?" He asked as he reached behind him and picked up a black velvet box. Inside was a simple diamond solitaire on a white gold chain._

_            "It's beautiful, Dad."_

_            "It was your mother's." He whispered softly as her head shot up in surprise and delight. She knew it must have taken a lot for him to do this for her._

_            "Thank you, Daddy." She whispered, tears in her eyes as he slipped the chain around her neck. "It's perfect." She wiped the few stray tears from under her eyes, as to not ruin her makeup. "Is Tom here yet?"_

_            "No. But I'm sure he'll be here any …" His voice was cut off as the door bell rang. Jack opened the door to find the young suit-cladded man smiling nervously, a single red rose in his hand._

_            "Hi, Sydney." He spoke quietly. "You look beautiful."_

_            "Thank you." She smiled shyly before turning to her father. "Ok, Dad, I'll be home by 12."_

_            "12?" Jack asked in amazement. His daughter was only 16 and her date was almost 18._

_            "Yes, Dad, 12. The homecoming dance is over at 11 and it'll take up a while because of the traffic. If we're going to be later I'll call. Those are Cindy's rules." She reminded him. He knew that she was using the trick of the Nanny's rules as a silent reminder that just because he was home this once, doesn't mean he could change her curfew._

_            "Alright." Jack conceded. "Have her home by 12, Thomas."_

_            "Yes, Mr. Bristow." Tom smiled nervously._

_            "Bye, Dad." Sydney called as she made to leave._

_            "Have a good time. Night, Princess." Sydney turned and smiled at her father. She couldn't remember the last time he had called her Princess, but she was sure it had been over a decade ago, since before her mother had died._

_            "Night, Daddy." She whispered before shutting the door behind her._

            "You know, I never liked that boy. And if I remember correctly, he broke your heart a week or so later." Jack smiled softly at his daughter, lying peacefully on the hospital bed.

            "I know that right now, you're angry. I know that you and Mike had a pretty rough argument. I don't know all the details but I do know that it must have been really bad. But you listen to me, young lady." Jack stood, his tone becoming severe and stern. "Don't you even think about not coming back to us. I will not allow you to leave. If you think for even one moment that I will let you go… you are sorely mistaken."

            Jack broke as tears began to stream down his face. "You have too much to offer to those three children of yours to leave. You know what it is like to grow up without a mother; don't force your children into the same circumstance. Do not force Michael to live the way I lived. It's not something anyone should ever experience. So you listen to me young lady." He took a deep breath. His voice had risen and he knew that he had to keep it down. "Sydney, you have too much to give to leave so early in life."

            Jack leaned over and kissed her forehead softly. "Come back to us Princess." He whispered before giving her hand a final squeeze and walking back into the waiting room.

            She sat in the darkness, whispers floating around her. She didn't know where she was, all she knew was that it was peaceful, calming. She was preparing to stay there forever when a voice rang out in the distance. She recognized it but couldn't place it. She was ready to ignore it when she heard the softly whispered, "Come back to us Princess" and smiled, knowing who it was. Slowly she stood and began the long journey through the dark.

            **A/N: Ok. There we go. So much happier with that. There was just stuff missing with the last one. So it's ****3:37**. Not too bad. I hope you liked this. I certainly like this better than the last version. Thank you to everyone who took the time to send me such kind reviews for just an A/N. I really appreciated that.****

**            So, I want to share something with you all quickly. It's completely off topic… but at the same time, I don't care. So Thursday night I was watching the Ducks/Stars game and was really hyper because it was going into like a million overtimes. So it's like ****12:30** in the morning and it's a break in between the 3rd and 4th overtime. So I flip through the channels to see who's going to be on late night TV. And guess who is on Craig Kilborn… that's right, MICHAEL VARTAN! So I was so jazzed. And if that's wasn't good enough, when Michael came on at ******1:15** or so, his interview was EXACTLY during the 4th overtime and 5th overtime break!!! AND…AND… not ONLY did it come out so that I could watch it without missing my game, but he said that he was making a sacrifice because he was missing the playoff games… and guess which team he was rooting for… that's right! MY DUCKS! Such a smart man!!****

**            OK, thanks for letting me rant!! Go and review! And cheer on my DUCKS this Monday night at ****7 pm EST****/ ****4 pm PST****. **

**            Merci,**

**            -SAG**

**p.s. ETA for next chapter – Thursday or Saturday. (And go check out **If Only Once More **Second chapter is up!!)**


	7. Pregnancies and First Days

            **A/N: … Hi. Sorry this took so incredibly long. Really I am.  But I had a little too much fun with If Only Once More**** a few others that I was doing at sd-1.com (same user name… check um out!!) So I kind of neglected this. Plus the finale blew me away. But I shall keep quiet about that for those of you who haven't seen it. Anyways, I've also been battling some health issues, so I apologize for the lateness. I just finished this chapter (on paper) and didn't have any homework tonight, so I threw in some Coldplay and Foo Fighters and am reading to rock. I hope you all enjoy. Please let me know what you think!**

**Ch.**** 6   Pregnancies and First Days**

            Jack walked out of her room and slowly made his way back to where everyone was sitting. The waiting room was deserted, save those who were there for Sydney, and eerily quiet. He sighed deeply, clearing his mind, as he sat down across from Vaughn, smiling slightly at the sight of his grandson, who was sleeping, leaning up against his father.

            Francie watched as Jack sat down and shifted the sleeping Bella in her arms. She looked over at Will and locked eyes with him, silently passing along a message, to which he nodded and turned to talk to Lucy.

            "Mike." Francie called softly.

            "Hmm?" Vaughn turned to look at her as he ran his hand softly through Danny's hair, listening to the soft sounds of his sleeping breaths.

            "Will and I want to… we want to go see her. I mean, if you don't…"

            "Go ahead." Vaughn cut her off softly as he tried to give her a slight smile. "You don't have to ask me."

            "Thank you." She smiled as she stood, gathering Bella in her arms. Bella began to stir as Francie stood. "Eric? Will you take…"

            "I want Daddy." Bella cried softly as she woke up fully. "I want to sit with Daddy."

            Vaughn nodded at Francie and held out his free arm to wrap around his daughter as she was placed in his lap. "Come here, baby." He cooed softly as she buried her face in his chest. He ran his hand up and down her hair gently as she struggled to calm her tears. "Everything's going to be ok. I promise." He whispered as he kissed the crown of her head.

            Francie struggled to hold back her tears as she watched Vaughn comfort his daughter. As Will led her towards Sydney's room, she prayed to anyone who would listen not to rip those children away from their mother.

            Will felt the tears rush to his eyes as he stepped into Sydney's room and saw his friend lying there. He silently reached for Francie's hand and gripped it tightly as they moved closer to the bed. He watched her silently for a few moments as he listened to the steady beats of her heart monitor and the gentle cries of Francie's sobs. His tears quickly dried as he forced himself to remember why she was lying there.

            "You know Syd, these flight habits of yours always pissed me off." He whispered harshly.

            "Will!" Francie gasped as she turned to face him.

            "No, Fran. This about it. She gets into an argument with someone and she takes flight. Had she had the brains to not drive around in a storm, we wouldn't be here right now. Mike wouldn't be out there trying to convince his children that their mother was going to come back." His voice hitched as tears began to slide down his cheeks. "And we wouldn't be forced to face the facts that we may have to say goodbye to her."

            Francie broke down as Will sobbed and moved to embrace her friend. They silently comforted each other until their tears subsided and their breathing returned to normal. Francie turned from Will's embrace and faced Sydney. Tears were still softly falling down her face but she struggled to maintain her composure.

            "Everyone's getting really emotional over you." Francie laughed slightly. "You'd hate it." Will walked up next to her and silently took hold of her free hand, her other currently brushing the hair out of Sydney's face. "It reminds me of when you had gotten pregnant with Danny. Michael was so apprehensive about everything you did. And you absolutely hated it. Thinking back on that, I regret not being around when you were pregnant with Evelyn. You were always the happiest pregnant person I had known." She moved her hand to grasp Sydney's and laughed softly though her tears. "I remember when you called to tell me. I was so happy for you."

            _"I could have killed him!"_

_            "Eric!" Francie laughed as she took a seat next to him at the table. "That's not the nicest thing to say about your boss."_

_            "I don't care." Weiss pouted as he traced shapes on the table with his fingers. "He's worse then __Kendall__! At least back in LA I had Mike to agree with me about how much of an ass our boss was. Everyone here, they're all such goody-two-shoes. Never say anything bad about the boss."_

_            Francie smiled as she rose to answer the ringing phone. "It was _your_ choice to come out here, so don't give me that 'back in LA' crap." she smiled as she reached for the phone. "Hello?"_

_            "You are not going to believe this."_

_            "Hello to you too, __Sydney__." Francie smiled as she heard her friend's excited tone. _

_            "Sorry Fran. Hi, how are you?" __Sydney__'s voice was rushed and excited._

_            "We're fine, but obviously not as good as you. What's up?" Francie smiled as she took a seat across from Weiss, who was still grumbling. "Its good news I hope."_

_            "_Great_ news." __Sydney__ reassured her excitedly. "So great, in fact that Mike and I are coming out there to see the two of you."_

_            "No way!" Francie exclaimed excitedly. "That's so good to hear. You can finally shut Eric up!!" Francie smiled at Weiss's wounded puppy look as he regarded her curiosity. "But I'm dying here Syd, what is the great news?"_

_            "I'm pregnant." Francie could hear the smile in her voice._

_            "Again!? __Sydney__ that is wonderful! Oh, I am so happy for you." Weiss moved in front of her excitedly, mouthing 'what?!' only to be brushed off. "How far?"_

_            "About 6 weeks." __Sydney__ giggled over the other end._

_            "How's Mike about all of this?"_

_            "I think he's more excited than I am. He always wanted three. After Bella, I was pretty happy, you know, one of each. But this little one will be a welcomed addition. Plus, last time there was a big hope that it was a girl, this time, we could care less. Though Mike wants this one to play hockey no matter what."_

_            "How are Danny and Bella dealing with it?"_

_            "Bella can't wait to play with the baby. And Danny is an absolute doll. Being older now, he's so protective of me." She laughed suddenly. "Do you remember Mike when I was pregnant for Danny?"_

_            "You mean, '_Mr. Cautious'_?"_

_Sydney__'s laughter only grew at Francie's remark. "Exactly. Only picture a 7 year old doing those things. It's absolutely adorable."_

_            Francie smiled a she imagined Danny doing all the things Vaughn had done. She had only been living in DC for a little over a year and she missed LA desperately. Hearing her best friend over the phone, so excited for their new arrival, only made her miss it that much more. When Weiss had accepted the promotion, she had never imagined having to move to DC, sell her restaurant, uprooting her life. But she had supported him because she loved him and knew, career wise, this was the best move for him. But nonetheless, she missed LA life._

_            "Fran?"_

_            "Oh, sorry Syd." Francie shook her head out of her memories. "So, two weeks?"_

_            "Yeah. We've already booked the tickets and everything so we'll see you on the 17th."_

_            "Syd, this is just wonderful. I can't wait. I am so happy for you."_

_            "Thank you"_

_            "Mommy, Mommy I need you."_

_            "Danny, Mommy is on the phone. Go as Daddy for help." Francie smiled as she heard the voice of her godson._

_            "I can't Mommy. Dad's trying to get Bella down for a nap. Please Mommy."_

_            Francie cut in when she heard __Sydney__'s exasperated sigh. "It's _

_            "Love you too, sweetie. Bye." Francie smiled as she hung up the phone and turned back to Weiss._

_            "You finally going to tell me what are going on?" Weiss teased as Francie looked at him smugly._

_            "I don't know if I want to now…"_

_            "Fran!" Weiss whined._

_            "Calm down, I'm only joking!" She laughed at his 5 year old like attitude. "Sydney, Mike and the kids are coming out to see us in 2 weeks."_

_            "Why, is everything ok?" He asked, concern seeping into his voice. They never just _came_ out to DC._

_            "Everything's fine. Everything's better than fine, actually. Syd's pregnant." Francie smiled widely at her husband as he chuckled._

_            "Oh man," he shook his head in disbelief. "Poor Mike, and he was just starting to be able to sleep through the nights again. Then again," he paused dramatically, raising his eyebrows. "If she's pregnant again, he obviously isn't sleeping through the whole night."_

_            "Eric!" Francie called as she threw a dishtowel at him. She shook her head as laughter filtered through. "We'll have to have a big celebratory dinner when they get here."_

_            "Yes, we will." Weiss stated simply as he stood and walked over to her. "However, I think we should have our own little celebration right now." he smiled mischievously before flipping her over his shoulder, her cries of surprise ringing out, before bounding off to their bedroom._

            "We had so much fun that week. You were so happy." Francie sniffled as she continued to brush the hair out of Sydney's face. "I want to have those times again." She whispered as she leaned over and kissed Sydney's head lightly. "Come back so we can have those again."

            Will had stood by quietly as Francie spoke softly and when she stood and backed away, Will took a step forward and took Sydney's left hand in his right, careful of her cast, and placed his left hand up at her head, gently stroking her hair as he squat down to be even with her.

            "This is the last place I'd ever expect to find you. In this bed, this person lying here, this isn't the Sydney I know. You are so much stronger than this. When I first met you, you seemed like this weak little girl. This shy quiet, amazingly intelligent, beautiful young woman who seemed like she didn't have a friend in the world. The person you became, through your work, no one would have ever guessed that you were the same person I met freshman year." He smiled at her as he ran his hand through her hair. The soft sounds of her respirator assuring him that she was breathing.

            "You remember that day don't you? That day we met? I swear I fell for you right then and there. Had you not been involved with… someone," he paused, preferring to glass over the memory of Noah Hicks. "I would have probably hit on you pretty strong." a light laugh escaped his lips as the memories ran through his head. "Come to think of it, I hit on you pretty hard anyways, didn't I?"

_            He glanced at his watch again, groaning as he realized just how late he was going to be. Picking up his pace, he began to fly down the quad hoping to make it to his creative writing class on time. His mind was focused solely on getting to class and he didn't notice a thing around him until he collided with another body, books scattering around them._

_            "Uh!"_

_            "Ow!"_

_            Will looked up; ready to let loose on the person he collided with, but stopped short when he got a look at the other person. She was gorgeous. Her long chestnut brown hair was swept over her shoulders, ending in delicate curls. Her deep chocolate brown eyes seemed to sparkle back at him as she brushed the dirt off her hands._

_            "I am so sorry." He stammered as he brushed himself off and extended his hand to help her stand._

_            "No, it's my fault. I wasn't looking where I was going." she glanced away nervously and bent down to collect her things._

_            "Here, let me help." Will smiled as he bent down to help her pick up the books lying on the ground. "I'm Will Tippin." He smiled, holding out his hand._

_            "Sydney Bristow." She smiled, shaking his hand._

_            "Oh, here." He handed her the book he had picked up. "Wow, advanced Russian."_

_            "Yeah, that's what I was reading. Sorry again." She glanced around the quad, hoping he wouldn't read into it, as she grabbed it and slipped it into her bag. She tried to grab the other books before him, but he beat her to it._

_            "Wow. Swedish, Polish and Advanced German. Language major?"_

_            "No. Lit." She smiled nervously as she snatched the books from him and shoved them into her bag. "Were you trying to make it to a class?"_

_            "What?" He stammered, coming out of his trance like state. "Oh, yeah." He glanced at his watch. "Damn. I've missed it now."_

_            "I am so sorry." She began to apologize when he cut her off._

_            "Don't worry about it. I'll get the notes from someone else, I'll be fine."_

_            "Are you sure? I feel so awful about this."_

_            "Don't worry about it." He smiled, easing her tension. "Are _you_ off to a class?"_

_            "No, I just left my last one."_

_            "Do you want to go grab a cup of coffee or something?"_

_            She smiled at him for a moment, taking in everything about him, the dangers he could hold. Deciding that he seemed harmless she smiled widely at him. "Sure, why not."_

_            "Great." His smiled grew wide. "So you're a Lit. major huh?" He asked as they made their way out of the quad. "But you just love languages?"_

_            "Yeah. Something like that."_

            "You know, I always wondered why this gorgeous woman was coming with me so easily. I mean we had just met. But little did I know, you were probably using your spy skills to see how dangerous I would be." He chuckled as he brushed a few tears off his eyes.

            "You can't leave us yet Sydney. Who's going to help Lucy and I get ready for Baby Tippin? I can't do this. I need all the help I can get. Who's Lucy going to talk to about how I am driving her mad?" He stood and looked down at her sleeping form.

            "I refuse to say goodbye to you Sydney. So don't you dare make me." He turned and moved to Francie, placing his arm around her shoulders as they exited the room.

            The darkness surrounded her as she walked slowly though it, hoping to find a break of light. She could hear the voices clearer now. Each step she took brought her closer to them, though her pace was agonizingly slow. She smiled as she heard Will remember that day and forced her feet to move faster through the darkness.

**            A/N: took me bloody long enough. Course it doesn't help that I was talking to a million people at the same time too. Anyways, let me know what you think. I had a lot of problems with this; Will and Francie are difficult to write sometimes.**

**            Hope you enjoyed it. Let me know. Reviews soothe my soul and make me feel better. **

**            Depending on how I am feeling, I hope to get the next chapter out in a week or so.**

**            As always, thanks in advance for the reviews!!**

**            Merci,**

**            -SAG    **


	8. On This Lovely Bella Notte

**            A/N: Ask and you shall receive… which basically means that someone asked for this and they shall now receive it. I'm back. Marty (the Muse) and I have been gone for a while but have now returned. We're rockin' this fic again and totally jazzed for the Ducks to play against the Devils in the ****Stanley**** Cup Finals (DUUUUUDE!) Could I love Jean-Sebastian Giguere anymore? No I don't think so. MOVING ON! Here's chapter 8 for you all.**

**_kittyfantastico – I swear sometimes I think you people are reading my mind. Here's more of what you wanted doll._**

**_Jennifer – you cannot steal Vaughn! That's the rule! Yay for cable!! And seriously that dream… creepy much! (esp. considering what I had asked my mom… poo to her not wanting to pay for me going to private school on the other side of the country.)_******

**Ch. 7    On This Lovely Bella Notte**

            He woke up when he felt movement to his right. Lifting his hand, he moved to wipe the sleep from his eyes. Danny lay at his right, leaning against his father as he slept peacefully. He shifted again in his sleep and Vaughn smiled slightly, brushing a small kiss across his son's head.

            Shaking the sleep from his head, he surveyed the room around him. Everyone had fallen asleep and glancing at his watch, Vaughn understood why; it was closing in on 3 am. He smiled slightly when he saw Evelyn curled up against Lucy, sleeping soundly as Lucy slept against Will. Weiss and Francie sat across from them, next to Brigitte as they all dozed. Looking to his right, he saw Jack leaning against his right hand as he slept, Danny's feet curled on his lap as he shared the couch with Danny and Vaughn. Irina had been by earlier, but due to her CIA restrictions, had left shortly after, though Vaughn was not one to object. Looking around he noticed that of all the people in the room, there was one missing. Bella was nowhere in sight.

            Disentangling himself from Danny, Vaughn stood and looked around the waiting room for his daughter. He checked all of the chairs, hoping to find her curled up in one of them. He began to panic when he noticed that she was nowhere in the room. Walking down the hall, his panic rose as everywhere he looked was empty. As he neared Sydney's room, he got the fleeting notion that maybe she had slipped in there. Creeping inside, his heart stopped and tears pooled in his eyes. He had found his daughter.

            Sometime in the middle of the night, Bella had removed herself from her father's lap and had made her way into Sydney's room, settling herself with Sydney. Vaughn ventured further into the room and stopped to watch his daughter sleep as she snuggled up against her mother, her cheeks glistening with dried tears. He watched silently as she snuggled closer to Sydney and memories assaulted his mind.

_            He sat at the table, enjoying his cup of coffee and reading the newspaper that he had had no time for that morning when the door opened and __Sydney__ floated in._

_            "Hello." She smiled as she walked over to him and leaned down to kiss him._

_            "Hello." He smiled. "What's got you in this fabulous mood?"_

_            "I have to talk to you about something." She smiled, sitting down next to him._

_            He folded his paper and gave her his full attention. "Ok, must be good. You're glowing."_

_            She smiled and took a deep breath. "Do you remember the other day last week when we were talking about painting Danny's room?"_

_            He raised his eyebrows suspiciously. "Uh-huh."_

_            "Well, I was thinking blue."_

_            "_This_ is what you wanted to talk about?" He laughed as he reached for his paper, only to have her snatch it away from him. "Syd!"_

_            "I'm trying to have a serious conversation here. The Kings' aren't going to magically disappear if you don't read that right now." She sighed in exasperation._

_            "Fine. Blue?" He consented._

_            "Yes. Like, sky blue." She smiled, knowing she had won._

_            "Sounds good. It takes what, 3 coats? So like 2 gallons?" He asked, calculating the costs in his head._

_            "Uh-huh." She smiled as she nodded. "Plus two gallons of Mossy-Mint Green, Calculator Man." _

_            "Why, exactly do we need two gallons of Mossy-Mint Green?" He mused._

_            "Well, I figured this time around the nursery could be green."_

_            "Oh, ok." He shrugged and turned back to his paper._

_            He began to read again as __Sydney__ mentally counted. "1 … 2 … and…"_

_            "_NURSERY_?" He spat out at her suddenly._

_            "3!" She smiled as she nodded. "Yeah, nursery. I figured we could use green this time. Gender neutral."_

_            "You mean you're … we're …" She nodded. "Oh, __Sydney__." He smiled and took her in his arms, spinning her around. "A baby." He smiled and kissed her fully. Pulling back, he smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "When?" He shook his head in disbelief. "When did this happen?"_

_            "Do you remember when you did the week of "The Rat Pack"?" He nodded, smiling. "On Dean Martin night." She smiled before kissing him again._

_            "Oh, Syd." He took her face between his hands and smiled at her, his dimples coming out in full force. "How far along are you?"_

_            "Six weeks." She kissed his nose as she placed her hands over his._

_            He gazed at her for a moment before suddenly bending down and throwing her over his shoulder. "Michael! What are you doing?!"_

_            "I am taking you to celebrate." He stated matter-of-factly._

_            "What about Danny?"_

_            "My mom took him for the night." He smiled as he dropped her down on the bed and assaulted her lips._

_            "Thank God for her." She sighed as he lips traveled down her neck as she began to unbutton his shirt. _

_            He pulled back suddenly and looked into her eyes dead on. "A baby?"_

_            She nodded and whispered, "Yeah. A baby" before taking his shirt in her hands and pulling him towards her. "We're having a baby."_

            He hastily wiped at his eyes as he stepped from the darkness and gently lifted his daughter from the bed.

            "No." She called gently as she turned to him. "I don't want to leave."

            He couldn't hold back the tears as he nodded and sat down in the chair next to Sydney's bed, Bella curled up against him as they, together, watched her sleep. "When is Mommy going to wake up?" Bella whispered, afraid that if she spoke loudly she would hurt her sleeping mother.

            "I don't know Bel, I don't know." He whispered back as he softly stroked her hair.

            "Memere said she may not wake up." Bella whispered as she wiped the tears from her cheeks.

            He didn't want to frighten his daughter, but Vaughn knew that his mother had told her these things as to make sure that she was prepared, incase Sydney didn't wake up. But he refused to lie to her either.

            "I don't know baby. We'll just have to pray that she does." He kissed the top of her head, his eyes never leaving his wife.

            "Daddy?"

            "Yes baby?"

            "Doesn't Mommy want to come back to us?"

            "Oh, Bella." Vaughn picked up his daughter and forced her to meet his eyes. "Bella, Mommy wants nothing more than to wake up. She loves you so much. You and Danny and Evelyn. But its God's decision to make. And right now, He's trying to decide whether He wants Mommy to wake up or go and be with Him." He spoke softly, hoping that the 4 year old understood.

            "I don't want her to go be with God." Bella cried softly as she dove into Vaughn's chest.

            "I know baby, I know." _Me neither. He added silently._

            He listened to his daughter cry softly for a few moments wished he could do something; say something to take away her pain. Glancing between his wife and his daughter, he couldn't help but remember the night Bella was born.

            "Did Mommy ever tell you the story of how you got your name?" He whispered softly as Bella shook her head against his chest. "No? Well, Mommy and I were right here I this very hospital and you came and Mommy looked at you and turned to me and said, "Here she is, this is our little Beauty." He smiled, remembering the smiled that had shown on Sydney's face. "That's who you are, our little Beauty." He listened to the steady sounds of Bella's breathing as he watched Sydney and remembered that night.

_            "Michael, next time you say "let's have another kid" I'm going to kill you." __Sydney__ spoke through clenched teeth._

_            Vaughn laughed softly as he kissed her temple and smoothed down her hair. "I know baby, I know." She clenched his hand tightly as she breathed through another contraction. "You know, you were a lot less violent when you were in labor with Danny."_

_            "Yeah, well, I was a little too overjoyed at being a first time Mommy then to focus on the pain. This time, the pain's pretty damn obvious and a strong focal point." She sneered back as the doctor gave her a quick examination._

_            "Ok Sydney, you remember how this goes? Time to push." The doctor spoke softly as __Sydney__ repositioned herself._

_            Moments later, a cry rang out as the newest Vaughn entered the world._

_            "Congratulations, it's a girl."_

_            "Oh, __Sydney__." Vaughn sighed as tears pooled in his eyes. "Look at her. She's beautiful. A daughter. We have a daughter."_

_            "Look at her Michael. This is out baby girl. This is our beautiful baby girl." __Sydney__ sniffled as tears fell down her cheeks. "Here she is, this is our little Beauty." She smiled as she held her daughter close._

_            "Hey beautiful." Vaughn smiled as he placed a small kiss on his daughter's head. "She is so beautiful. Just like her mother, a perfect little Beauty."_

_            "This little Beauty still needs a name."_

_            "Well, what about 'Beauty'?" Vaughn smiled at __Sydney__'s raised eyebrows. "Well, not in English. But with all the languages between us, there must be one__ that fits."_

_Sydney__ studied her daughter for a moment before a smile crept across her face. "Bella. Bella Michelle."_

_            "Bella? What made you pick Italian?" Vaughn smiled as he ran his hand along his daughter's head._

_            "Dean Martin."_

_            "What?" He laughed._

_            "The night this one was conceived. Dean Martin night. What song did you have repeat like three times?" Vaughn shook his head._

_            "I have no idea."_

_            "This is the night, it's a beautiful night." __Sydney__ began to sing softly._

_            "And they call it Bella __Notte__." Vaughn joined in as a smile crept across his face. "It's perfect." He leaned over and kissed __Sydney__ softly._

_            She leaned against him as they gazed down at their daughter and she began to sing softly, Vaughn joining her after a few words. "Look at the skies; they have stars in their eyes, on this lovely Bella __Notte_. So take this love of your loved one. You'll need it about this time. To keep from falling like a star. When you make that dizzy climb. For this is the night and the heavens are right, on this lovely Bella __Notte___."_

            Vaughn was brought back to the present as he felt Bella move from his lap and crawl back up with her mother. He was about to pull her off again when he froze on the spot, listening to his four year old as she pleaded with her mother and God.

            "Please Mommy. Wake up, wake up Mommy." She whispered as she buried herself in the crook of her mother's arm. "Mommy, I need you." She sniffled as she shut her yes, allowing herself to calm and slowly drift of to sleep. "Mommy I love you."

            She had paused for a moment, taking several deep breaths as she struggled to calm her nerves and catch her breath. The darkness around her seemed to be pressing own on her, getting thicker and heavier as she made her way towards the voices, creating a blanket around her. 

            Her heart stopped cold as she heard the tiniest of whispers off in the distance. "_Mommy, I need you."_

            "Bella." Sydney called softly as she forced herself to stand and pushed her way through the blackness around her.

            "_Mommy I love you_."

**A/N: So? What did you all think? I actually planned on typing this up yesterday, but I just didn't feel like it at the time. But Jennifer yelled at me earlier to write so I did. _Happy Jenn!? I hope you all enjoyed it! There's the Bella chapter. I hope I really wrote it well. It is seriously (as sadistic as this sounds) my goal to make someone cry. Did I?_**

**Don't forget… Ducks start a series against the Devils on Tuesday (GO DUCKS!)**

**Please review and let me know what you think!**

**Merci,**

**SAG**


	9. Something Right for Once

**A/N: Heeeey. Sorry all. I know. It's been a while. But between finals and writers block I had some issues getting this out. Marty and I had to have several long talks about how we wanted to go about doing this (and yes I do realize I talked to my invisible muse…invisible_ does not mean imaginary!! ;) ) I hope you enjoy this chapter._**

**            Dedicated to:**

**            _Nickell… Alrighty darling? There you go!!_**

**_            Jennifer… I knew you'd become addicted to it… hell I am!! ;)_**

            **Oh, and the French translation will be in the end a/n.**

**Ch.**** 8   Something Right for Once**

No change. It's been over 50 hours, over two days, and still there had been no change. It killed him to realize this as he sat in the uncomfortable chair, staring straight ahead of him, as he watched his daughter as she slowly read a book to Francie. It had always amazed him how wonderfully quick Bella had begun to read, able to read on her own at the age of 4, obviously a trait picked up from her mother's side.

            Sighing, Vaughn looked around the room. Everyone sat quietly, Weiss talked softly with Jack as Will and Lucy stayed occupied with Evelyn. Francie and Bella sat in front of him reading as his mother sat to his left, Danny on his right, leaning against him as he sifted through a book. Looking at his watch the time struck him deeply as he realized that it was almost 10 o'clock at night and they'd all been sitting in that room for over two days. Disgusted with himself for allowing it to happen, he quickly hoped to rectify the situation and turned to his mother, keeping his voice low.

            "Maman?"

            "Yes Michel?"

            "Maman, can you take the kids home for the night? They don't need to be here. They deserve to spend the night at home, get a real meal, a bath, sleep in their own beds."

            Brigitte nodded slowly. "Of course dear. I can take them right now."

            "Thanks." Vaughn smiled slightly as he shifted to turn to Danny. "Danny, Danny Memere is going to take you home for the night, ok?"

            Danny sat up straight and looked into his father's eyes, tears starting to build. "No."

            Vaughn sighed as he tried to reason with his son. "Danny…"

            "No. Dad, I want to stay. What if something happens?"

            "Danny I promise to call if anything should happen, ok? You need to get some real sleep." Vaughn sighed running his hand through his son's hair.

            "Dad, please." Danny pleaded.

            He knew that his son had gained his mother's stubborn streak, it was always apparent in everything he had done, but it had never come out as strongly as it had now. Nodding his head slowly, Vaughn consented with his son. "Ok."

            "Thank you." Danny whispered softly as he leaned back against his father.

            "Maman, can you still take the girls home?" Vaughn asked as his mother nodded. Standing Vaughn walked over to his oldest daughter and pulled her attention away from her book as he kneeled in front of her as she sat on Francie's lap. "Bella, sweetheart, Memere's gonna take you home to sleep ok?"

            "Are you coming?" She asked her voice tiny.

            "No. I'm going to stay here with Mommy. But you'll be back in the morning ok?" Bella nodded softly and Vaughn was thankful that at least one of his children went without an argument.

            "What about Danny?" Bella looked at her brother for a moment before turning back to her father.

            "Danny's going to hang out with me." Vaughn worded carefully, afraid that she would burst into tears and protest against leaving with her grandmother. "You'll be back before you know it, ok beauty?"

            "Ok." She whispered as she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around her father's neck.

            "That's my big girl." Vaughn smiled softly as he rubbed circles in his daughter's back as he stood and held her close. "Ok." He pulled back, still holding her. "I'll see you in the morning ok? Sleep tight baby."

            Bella nodded and kissed him on the cheek softly. "Night Daddy."

            "Night Bel." He kissed the crown of her head softly before setting her down and walking over to his youngest. "Come here sweetheart." He cooed softly as he reached down and took his daughter from Lucy. "You're going to go with Memere now, ok baby?" He called softly as Evelyn curled up against him, her fatigue showing through. "You get some sleep." He kissed her forehead softly before handing her over to her grandmother.

            "Thank you for this Maman."

            "No problem sweetheart. We'll go home, have a nice bath, get into some warm pjs and then have a good night sleep, right Bella?" Brigitte asked softly as the four year old nodded, her hand gripping her grandmother's as she leaned against her, tears in her eyes.

            Vaughn leaned down to become eye level with Bella. "I'll see you in the morning Beauty." She nodded her head again softly as Vaughn kissed her forehead and stood back up; brushing his hand over his youngest's head. "Thank you Maman."

            "Don't think about Michel." Brigitte smiled. "You'll call if anything changes?" Vaughn nodded. "Alright. See you in the morning. Say goodnight to Daddy."

            "Night Daddy." Bella called softly as Evelyn slept against her grandmother's shoulder.

            "Night Bel." Vaughn smiled.

            "Soin de prise de vous-même, chéri. Je t'aime. N'oubliez jamais cela." Brigitte called softly, kissing her son soflty on the cheek before turning and leading her granddaughters out of the hospital.

            Vaughn sighed deeply as he sagged back down into his chair against Danny. Danny instinctively leaned back up against his father as they sat side by side on the two person couch and curled his feet underneath him as Vaughn stroked his hair absentmindedly. 

            "You ok?" Weiss called softly as he watched Vaughn stare off into space.

            "Yeah, I'm fine." Vaughn spoke softly. "You guys don't have to stick around like this. You can head out for the night. I promise to call if anything happens."

            "Nah, don't worry about it." Will spoke up. "I don't think any of us can bring ourselves to leave. Not just yet."

            Vaughn nodded as he leaned back against the back of the chair and ran his hand over his face. "I'm going to go check on her." He spoke softly as he stood and walked towards Sydney's room.

            They all watched as he walked away and slowly entered her room, taking a deep breath before he walked into the room. Weiss watched as his best friend waged a war inside himself and, kissing his wife on the cheek softly, stood and followed Vaughn.

            When he entered the room, he found Vaughn standing by her bed, just watching her chest move up and down as the machine forced her to breath. Moving slowly he walked up until he stood directly next to Vaughn, looking down at Sydney as she lay on the bed.

            "She looks so peaceful you'd think she was just sleeping." Vaughn whispered.

            Hearing the anguish in his best friend's voice, Weiss struggled to find something to say that would help Vaughn in anyway that he could. Finally deciding upon something, he kept his voice low as he spoke.

            "Do you know how I first knew about you two?"

            Vaughn shook his head slowly.

           "Surprisingly enough, it was because of Sydney." Vaughn's head shot up as he looked at Weiss in amazement. "I know. Of the two of you, you'd think that _you'd be the one most likely to give it away, what with the way you suck at lying and all." Both of them chuckled slightly. "But no, it was her. The smile that never left her face. The way that she was amazingly happy. I knew that you had finally done something. Something right for once."_

            _"Good morning." She called as she floated into the room. Her smile was so bright that Weiss thought he may go blind at the sight of it._

_            "Morning." He called back. "Good run?" He asked as he raised his eyebrows._

_            "Something like that." She smiled as she walked over and poured herself a cup of coffee. "So, Weiss, how are you?"_

_            "I'm fine." He replied warily. What _was_ her deal!?_

_            "That's great." She took a seat next to him. "Anything interesting happening?"_

_            "No, not really. There's this new assistant at Headquarters. She works for Johnson I think. Anyways, I was thinking of maybe asking her out." Weiss shrugged nonchalantly, waiting for her to roll her eyes and smack upside the head but it never came._

_            "Yeah? She pretty?"_

_            Weiss looked at her skeptically for a moment. "Yeah. Petit, red hair, thin, gorgeous."_

_            "That's fantastic. You should totally ask her out Weiss."_

_            He could barely believe that she was saying these things to him. Normally she would be appalled by his description, feminist prose and all, but she was fine with it. More so she was telling him to go for it? Who was she and what did she do with the Sydney Bristow that he knew?!_

_            "Ok, what's going on?"_

_            "What do you mean?" She asked._

_            "I mean what is wrong with you? You never act like that. Usually you are all, don't talk like that about women and blah, blah, blah. So what is wrong with you? You come to the ops center all happy and cheerful, and you just came from a meeting at SD-6, I didn't think that was actually possible. So, by all means, share. Because obviously you've found the secret to happiness." He smirked as he leaned back and looked at her._

_            "Don't be ridiculous." She scoffed as she took a sip of her coffee. "I'm just in a good mood. Is there a law against that?"_

_            "I'm sure somewhere there is." He smiled at her, forcing her to breakout in laughter. "No seriously. I think there's a disease going around. I mean between you and Mike…" He trailed off as he noticed that she immediately avoided his eyes as the subject of Vaughn came up. Looking at her, it took him only a moment to figure it out. "Oh, my God."_

_            "What?" She looked up at him at his sudden outburst. _

_            "You finally got together!"_

_            "Who?" _

_            "You and Mike. You finally got together didn't you!?"_

_            "Don't be ridiculous." She shrugged him off as she stood and tried to move out of the room, but Weiss beat her to the door and closed it, keeping her in the room._

_            "Look at me." She avoided his gaze at all costs. "You did. I can tell right there. You finally owned up to your feelings and did something about it."_

_            She looked at him for a quick moment. "Don't be stupid Eric. Michael and I can't be together and you know that."_

_            "Since when did you start calling him 'Michael'?" Weiss asked, his eyebrows rising._

_            A deep blush rose in her cheeks as she realized her slip._

_            "That's what I thought." A smile crept across Weiss's face as he realized he was right. "So last week, when Mike came in all happy and in a fabulous mood, right around the time you were coming home from your mission in London, he had snuck out there, hadn't he? You guys slept together."_

_            "WEISS!" __Sydney__ whispered harshly. "Firstly, look where you are, would you shut up?! And secondly, that__ is none of your business."_

_            "So you are together." Weiss smiled at his victory._

_            She rolled her eyes as she realized it was futile to deny it. She was about to reply when a look of fear crossed her features. "Weiss, you can't…you can't tell anyone about this. I mean Michael could lose his job. He could get reassigned. It's so very important that you…"_

_            "Hey, don't worry about it." Weiss smiled, placing a hand on either of her shoulders. "I'm happy for you two and I wouldn't dream of taking this away from either of you."_

_            "Thank you." She sighed in relief as the tension left her body._

_            "So, do you guys like, make up missions so that you can meet?" He asked, his eyebrows wagging up and down._

_            "Weiss." She sighed as she rolled her eyes and moved past him and out of the break room._

_            "What?"_

            Vaughn smiled at the memory. Images of their first night together in London flooded his mind as he gazed down at his wife, her chest moving rhythmically along with each beep of the heart monitor.

            "So?"

            "So what?" Vaughn asked as he turned back to look at his friend.

            "So did you sleep with her in London?"

            Weiss received his desired effects as Vaughn let loose a low chuckle, a smile creeping across his face. "Yeah. Yeah I did."

            "I knew it." Weiss smiled triumphantly as Vaughn shook his head in disbelief. "You know she's going to be ok, right?"

            Vaughn sobered quickly and looked down at his wife, his hand reaching out to graze hers with his fingertips. "There's less than 20 hours Eric. If she doesn't wake up in the next 20 hours…"

            "She will." Weiss cut him off, placing his hand on Vaughn's shoulder. "I've never seen her quit before, I don't think she plans on quitting now."

            Vaughn simply nodded before turning away, tears in his eyes. "I should go sit with Danny."

            "Mike…"

            "I'm Ok. He's just… I know he's worried. It's why he refused to go home." Weiss nodded as Vaughn turned and walked out the door.

            Weiss sighed as he turned back to look at Sydney. "Always causing trouble Bristow." He looked down at her and smiled slightly before sobering. Vaughn had been right, she looked so peaceful.

            "I don't know what went down with you guys. I don't. But when I was waiting for the kids… your wedding rings… I know it must have been bad for you to have taken those off. You _never take those babies off. Ever." He sighed and leaned down placing a gentle kiss on her forehead._

            "You better not leave him Sydney. I love you but I will not forgive you for leaving him. I never blamed you for anything that went wrong with Mike after you came into his life. Not the almost loss of his job, not that virus, nothing. But I will not forgive you if you leave him like this. I won't." His eyes had gone cold as he spoke to her. However has he bent to kiss her softly again, his eyes softened. "After all, I need someone to help me through parenthood. Francie's already freaked out about it. She's going to need you for this Syd."

            Slowly he turned and walked out the door, back to sit next to his wife who had finally fallen asleep.

            She stopped suddenly. Weiss's voice reverberated around her and her heart caught in her throat. _Francie was pregnant!? A smile crept across her face as she realized that this was probably what Francie had wanted to talk to her about when they made plans for a lunch date._

            Smiling, she began to walk again, the darkness becoming thicker with every step as she struggled to return to her family.

            **A/N: Translation: Take care of yourself, darling. I love you. Never forget that.**

**            Anyways… Sooo sad that the Ducks lost. (Though Jiggy got the ****Conn**** Smyth Trophy!! He totally deserved it too!! Though, no offense to ****Jersey** fans… but that was soo cruel the way they booed! I wanted to jump into the TV and give the poor guy a hug!! However, He gets married tomorrow!! So the best to him!!) Though game 6 rocked. I mean for Paul Kariya to come back from a Stevens hit is amazing enough, but to come back and finally, _finally_, get a goal rocked my world. We all know the Ducks are the greatest anyways.****

**            Hopefully it won't take me too, too long to update next time. I am out of school now (SCORE!) so hopefully another chapter next week!!**

**            As always, please let me know what you thought.**

**            Merci,**

**            - SAG**


	10. The Pleas of the Innocent

**            A/N: So, 10 days isn't too, too long right? Hope not. Sorry about the teeny delay. Having some issues (but aren't I always?) And well, Nickell has been like stalking me to get this out, so blah. Here we go. I have no clue how this one is going to turn out, since I have absolutely no ideas for the time being. We are looking at around another 3 chapters or so after this. So basically we're winding down.**

**            Enjoy and please, as always read and review. As of right now this and **From Two to Three** are tied with the most reviews I've ever gotten here at ff.net and I would probably die of happiness if I could get this baby to 200 by the end of it. (Hell if I get to 150 I'll be ecstatic). Love you all! **

**Ch.**** 9  The Pleas of the Innocent**

            He watched as his father exited his mother's room and wondered what had happened in there to make him so upset. He seemed worse than he was before and it dawned on Danny that the possibility of extremely bad news coming his way was very, very real. Vaughn walked back over to his son and slumped down in the two person couch, leaning back as he forced himself not to cry.

            "Dad? Is everything ok?" Danny asked quietly as he shut his book.

            "What champ? Yeah, everything is fine." Vaughn tried to force a smile for his son and brushed his hand through Danny's hair.

            "There isn't much time left is there Dad? Those 72 hours? They're almost gone aren't they?" Danny asked softly, tears swelling in his eyes as Vaughn's head shot up in surprise.

            "What? Who told you about that?"

            "I heard you and Uncle Eric talking. And, well, it's been almost 60 hours hasn't it? I mean, if she doesn't wake up sometime tomorrow, she's not going to is she?" Danny's voice broke as a few tears began to slide down his cheeks.            

            "Hey, Danny." Vaughn soothed as he moved his son closer to him, encircling him in his arms. "You know just as well as I do that Mom, Mom never gives up. I mean, how many times have you ever seen her give up? Do you remember when she was going to have Evelyn and she wouldn't let me help her paint the crib? Do you remember how long it took her? And she still never gave up. Your mom, she's a fighter." Vaughn whispered as he rushed to brush a few tears out of his own eyes, not wanting his son to see him cry.

            "What's going to happen if she doesn't wake up?" Danny asked as he sniffled.

            "Nothing. We're not going to think about that, ok kiddo? We're going to keep thinking about what we are going to do when Mommy _does _wake up." Vaughn stated strongly, trying to convince himself as much as his son that his wife was coming back.

            "Ok." Danny whispered. "I'm thirsty Dad."

            Vaughn smiled and moved to stand up. "Ok, what would you like? There's a soda machine down the hall."

            "Can I get a hot chocolate? Mom always lets me have some when I'm worried and can't sleep."

            "Sure." Vaughn smiled softly and bent to kiss the crown of Danny's head softly. "I'll run down to the cafeteria and get you some. Is there anything else you'd like?"

           Danny softly shook his head no, and Vaughn smiled before turning around and making his way to the cafeteria.

            Danny glanced around slowly as his father left and noticed that everyone else who was left seemed to have fallen asleep. Quietly, he placed his book on the couch and stood, making as little noise as possible as he made his way towards his mother's room.

            Slipping inside, he was immediately bombarded with the echo of _beep, beep as her heart monitor kept a steady rhythm and the gentle _clomp, clomp_ of her respirator. He walked slowly towards her and looked down at the form of his mother, silent tears running down his face._

            "Hi Mom." He kept his voice low, praying that she could hear him. "I miss you. A lot. Dad, Dad's getting really worried. He wont…he won't admit it to me but I can tell. You know, you know how you told me about those wrinkles in his forehead and how they all come out when he's really worried about something or really scared? Well… they're out. All of them." Danny smiled ruefully.

            "You know how you said you can tell just how worried he is by counting them? I did. There are a lot of them. I think he may have created a new one." He laughed slightly through his tears as he toyed with the end of her blanket.

            "I… I didn't tell him where I was. He went to go get me some cocoa. You know, 'cause I like to drink some when I'm worried or scared and can't sleep. I dunno if it'll help. 'Cause it won't bring you back.

            "I still remember what you told me about how to deal with Dad. I still remember and I'm trying Mom. I'm trying to do what you told me."

            _He sat on his bed, the hockey sheets rumbled underneath as he sniffled and tried to control his tears. He had gotten into an argument with his father over sports again and this time he had taken it too far. He couldn't remember his father ever being so angry with him._

_            His door creaked open and for a moment he was frightened that it was his dad, but he instantly relaxed when he saw his mother._

_            "Hi." He whispered softly, his eyes trained on the floor._

_            "Hey." She replied as she moved into the room, shutting the door behind him. She was 6 months pregnant and when she sat down next to him, the bed moved slightly, forcing him to bounce up. "So, you had a pretty big fight with Dad, huh?"_

_            "Yeah."_

_            "You hurt him pretty badly, you know Danny. He's really very upset right now. He's worried about you."_

_            "What do you mean?" Danny asked, alarmed to hear that his father was worried._

_            "Well, he's scared that you hate him now."_

_            "Why?" Danny asked innocently. At only 7 he was rarely upset with his parents, especially with his father. He was his best friend._

_            "Because of the way you spoke to him. It didn't just hurt him, it scared him."_

_            "How can you tell?"_

_            "Well, if you look at Daddy when he's scared, he gets these wrinkles in his forehead. The more scared he is the more wrinkles he has."_

_            Danny laughed slightly remembering the funny lines he had seen in his father's forehead. "I didn't mean to make him worry." He sobered quickly._

_            "I know that." __Sydney__ cooed softly as she pulled Danny against her, rubbing his arm soflty. "But, you shouldn't have said those things Danny. Daddy's doing his best with you. He was only a little bit older than you when Grandpa died and he really doesn't know how to handle certain things."_

_            Danny nodded his head softly. "I know. But I want to play and he won't let me."_

_            "It's not that he won't let you, its that he's worried that maybe you're still too young to have so many things going at once. That and he's worried that you'll get hurt."_

_            "But I play hockey." Danny argued back._

_            "Yes, but so doesn't Daddy. He never played football as a kid and he doesn't know much about the equipment and all of that."_

_            "But, I wanna play." Danny whined softly._

_Sydney_ sighed and forced herself to remember that her son was just shy of his 8th birthday and sometimes didn't understand everything that she was trying to convey to him. "I know. And Dad knows that too. You just gotta know how to deal with him when you want something." She smiled as Danny looked up and met her eyes.__

_            "How do you do that?"_

_            "Well, you have to know that your Dad only wants what's best for you. He wants you and Bella and the new baby to be safe. He doesn't want to have to worry all the time about whether or not you could get hurt. So when you want something from him, like the permission to play football, you have to know how to talk to him, reason with him._

_            "See, when you talk to your dad about this kind of stuff, you have to reason with him. Let him know that you are going to be careful, that you aren't going to fool around when you are on the field. That you'll work hard to do your best, the same way you do hockey. Let him know that this is something that you would really like to do, to share this new experience with him. _

_            "The one thing you don't want to do is tell him that you don't love him anymore because he said no and that you wish he wasn't your dad." She said pointedly as Danny looked down at the carpet again, tears forming in his eyes._

_            "I didn't mean it." He whispered as __Sydney__ pulled him close again._

_            "I know that baby. But your Dad, he's still getting the hang of this. He never had the father-son relationship when he was growing up and so this whole thing is new to him. You just have to trust him. Ok?"_

_            Danny nodded in agreement and pulled his mother into a hug. "Thanks Mom." He whispered as he leaned against her stomach, only to receive a kick to the cheek. He laughed slightly as he felt the movement against his face and sat back up. "The new baby kicked me."_

_            "They just want to let you know that they are there." She smiled as she ruffled his hair and kissed his forehead. "Now, go talk to your Dad while I go wake up Bella. You need to talk to him and tell him that you are sorry. Let him know how you feel about playing but don't get angry. Remember that this is all new for him too, ok?"_

_            Danny nodded and stood, giving his mother a quick kiss on the cheek before walking out of his room in search of his father._

"I talked to Dad about how I was feeling, Mom. Just like you told me to. But, he, I don't think he really understands. I think, I think that he doesn't want to think about you not coming home with us. This time it's you who's scaring him Mom. Not me. And I think you need to come back and talk to him about it and tell him that you are sorry. After all, it's the only way to really deal with Dad, right?" He asked softly as he turned and dragged the chair over so that he was sitting directly next to his mother.

            "If it's ok with you, I think I'm just going to sit here for a while and think." He whispered as he settled into the chair, picking up a magazine from the table by her bedside.

            Vaughn walked back into the waiting room, a cup of hot chocolate in his hand searched around the room for his son. It was closing in on midnight and everyone else in the room had fallen asleep. When he saw Danny's book lying perfectly on the couch, he knew that he had been fooled into giving his son the perfect opportunity to sneak into his mother's room.

            Picking up the book, he turned and walked back to Sydney's room, opening the door slowly, expecting nothing more than to find his son in there.

            When he stepped inside, he smiled as he saw his son sitting in the chair, pulled up as close as possible to his mother's bedside. A magazine lay on the ground next to him, but Danny wasn't sleeping. He was sitting up, leaning in towards his mother talking softly. Vaughn stepped closer and noticed the tears pouring down his son's face and the desperation in his voice.

            "Mom. I don't want you to go. I don't want to grow up with out you. We were supposed to go to the movies next week. And you were going to help me make that gift for Grampa's birthday. And… if you come back, I promise never to leave my hockey stuff in the hallway again. And I'll clean my room. And then I'll keep it clean so that you don't have to ask me again. I promise. I'll be a good kid. Just… wake up." He broke down then, his silent tears becoming large, wracking sobs.

            "Hey… shhh." Vaughn soothed as he placed the book and the cocoa on the nearest table and moved to his son, embracing him tightly.

            "I promise to be a good kid and not to make a mess. And I'll do extra chores and I'll never make her angry and I'll play nicely with Bella and I'll share and…"

            "Shh. Danny. This is not your fault. Nothing that you did made this happen ok? Your mom loves you and you are a good kid. Nothing you did caused this to happen. I promise." Vaughn whispered as tears rolled down his face, his heart breaking.

            "I'm sorry I was such a bad kid… I'm sorry… I'm sorry." His tears became muddled words and all Vaughn could do was hold his son close and rock him as he cried himself to sleep.

            Tears began to pour down her face as she heard Danny crying. The sound of her son's tears, tearing at her heart. She wanted nothing more than to comfort her son, to tell him that it was ok. That everything was going to be ok. But the darkness was getting thicker by the minute and it was becoming hard for her to move, hard to breathe as the voices became louder. She struggled through it, tears continuing to fall as she heard the anguished cries of her 9 year old.

            **A/N: Hmm. So that's where I went with it. Interesting. Hopefully I will get the next one out by the end of this week. I have several going now and this one, I fear, is coming to an end.**

**            Please review and let me know what you think.**

**            Merci,**

**            -SAG**


	11. London Nights and Tales of Devotion

**            A/N: I swear **Nickell** just never gives up! Well, that's ok, I was putting this off and I know some people want it out so. Here we go. Slowly, oh so very slowly, we are coming to the end. I was thinking that this would be like the third to last chapter or so, but hell who really knows with me huh?! The one thing I do know, (much to the disappointment of Kristal**) this will be the final installment of my series. I really never expected it to go on as long as it has so these will be the final chapters.****

**            The flash back… well I'm not going to change the rating, because honestly there is nothing here that I haven't written before. Just… be warned.**

**            Thanks to everyone for all the reviews and such. Let's get to ch 10 now shall we? **

**Ch.**** 10  London Nights and Tales of Devotion**

            He held his son tight as his tears racked his tiny body. Vaughn was at a loss. He had comforted his children before, when they'd skinned their knees or fallen and bumped their heads, when they'd had bad dreams or when the thunderstorms had frightened them, but never in a case like this. Comforting his son over the possibility of losing his mother, this was something he hoped to never go through.

            As Danny began to quiet, Vaughn picked him up, holding him close, he set him down on the chair in the corner of the room and draped a blanket over him. Content with the fact that his son was sleeping, Vaughn moved over to Sydney's bed, taking residence in the chair that Danny had vacated and took her hand.

            "I really…haven't had a chance to talk to you in a while. Everyone has been so…worried. It's been a constant rush of people comforting each other, trying not to scare the kids and just…trying to keep it all together while we wait for you." He sighed deeply and looked at their entwined hands. 

            His eyes swept her body and lay to rest on her left hand, encased, as it lay across her stomach. Her bare ring finger made his stomach lurch and he reached inside his pocket and extracted the rings that Weiss had handed to him.

            "Weiss got me thinking. You know, about London. He actually came out and asked me about that." Vaughn's face broke into a soft smile. "God that was a great mission. Do you…do you remember?" He let out a soft chuckle and shook his head. "Of course you remember. That, that was one of the greatest moments of my life."

            _She opened the door to her hotel room and slowly walked in, letting out a long sigh. The mission, though not overly complicated, had taken its toll on her and she was exhausted. All she wanted to do was sleep. Just curl into her bed and sleep away all the memories of her life as an agent. _

_            Wandering into the bathroom, she glanced at herself in the mirror, smirking at the over the top make-up adorning her face and the stylish up-do that her hair was placed in. Running the water in the sink, she waited for it to warm before washing away all the make-up and brushing out her hair, making it shine. She slipped into a pair of soft flannel pjs and collapsed on the bed, contemplating whether or not to even bother getting under the covers when a knock came at her door._

_            Groaning, she sat up. "Who is it?"_

_            "Room service."_

Are you kidding me!?_ She pondered as she stood and walked over to the door. I never order room service. If this is SD-6 wanting the discs now I swear I'm gonna…___

_            She flew open the door and stood in shock at the person standing before her._

_            "Good evening." He replied kindly, pushing the room service cart into the room as she spun out into the hall and glanced around, making sure that no one saw him, before hastily closing the door._

_            She turned to him quickly and kept her voice hushed. "What are you…"_

_            He held up a hand to stop her and pulled out a round object from his pocket. He clicked it open, and once satisfied at hearing the two beeps, placed it on the table and smiled at her. "Bug killer."_

_            "What are you doing here?" She asked._

_            "I am here…" He took the silver dome off the tray to reveal a myriad of electrical devices. "To copy the discs. The CIA, and by the CIA I mean me, figured it be easier to do it this way then try and do a brush pass. Those can get tricky and this time of the year the airports are always crowded. This way there is a less margin for mistakes."_

_            "Nice." She commented softly as she moved over to her things and pulled out the two discs. Walking back to him she handed them over. "There you go."_

_            "Thanks." He smiled as he began to work. "Everything go smoothly?" He asked, his eyes trained on the machines in front of him._

_            "Hmm? Yeah. No glitches. It was pretty straight forward and simple. I even had time to eat on this one." She smiled._

_            "Yeah? Anything good?"_

_            "Eh, rich people party food. Same old, same old." He nodded as she moved and sat on the end of the bed, yawning loudly._

_            "Tired?"_

_            "Yeah." She smiled shyly. "I didn't sleep on the plane. Not like I expected to, just, jet lag and all that." He nodded knowingly. "What time did you get in?"_

_            "A couple of hours ago. I leave on the flight after yours, though I'm being routed through __Seattle__ and then LAX."_

_            "Gross." She made a face as he laughed, his eyes still fixated on the machine in front of him as it began to finish up the copies. "I've never cared much for __Seattle_ weather."__

_            "Me neither. Luckily it's just a 30 minute lay over and I don't have to switch planes. I'll probably sleep through it." He spoke as he stood and removed the discs. "Ok, here you go." He turned and handed her the new discs, a small smile gracing his features._

_            "Thank you." Their eyes held for a moment before she was suddenly in his arms, his hands tangled in her hair as he kissed her hungrily. Pulling back she kept her eyes shut, leaning her forehead against his. "Oh God I missed you."_

_            "Me too." He whispered back. "Thank God we got those out of the way." He smiled as he tossed the discs on her bags in the corner. Leaning down he kissed her again, softly, relishing in the feel of her. _

_            "Mmm." She sighed as she pulled back. "I love you."_

_            "I love you too." He smiled as he kissed her forehead. "This past week has been hell without you."_

_            "Same here." She sighed as she leaned against him, his hands rubbing her back soothingly. "Michael?"_

_            "Hmm?" He smiled as he heard his name. God, he loved the way it sounded coming from her._

_            She stood back up straight, holding his gaze. She opened her mouth to speak, closing almost instantly as she found she was lost for words. Instead she leaned in and kissed him, opening herself up to him, drinking him all in._

_            He moved a hand into her hair, running his fingers through the silky strands as he kissed her deeply. All thoughts of sleep and relaxation flew out of her mind as his hands began trailing down her neck, followed by his mouth. She sucked in a deep breath as his lips found a particularly sensitive spot as his hands began to work the draw-string on her pajama bottoms. Her hands deftly moved to his button up shirt, prying the small iridescent buttons from their wholes one by one. _

_            Before they knew it, they were falling backwards towards the bed, his shirt lying forgotten on the floor next to her pajama top. They slowly melted into each, taking time to learn everything they could about the other._

_            Hours later, she lay against his chest as he sat semi-straight, his head against the headboard. "I have to go soon." He whispered as he trailed his hand down her arm that lay across his abdomen. _

_            "I know." She sighed, snuggling closer. "I don't want you to."_

_            "Me neither." He whispered, placing a soft kiss in her hair. "But I have too." He sighed as he moved out of her embrace and slowly began to put on his discarded clothes._

_            She stood and slipped back into her pjs, a soft frown on her face. "Hey." He whispered walking over to her and lifting her chin. "I love you."_

_            She smiled and kissed him. "I love you too. I'll see you back in LA?"_

_            "Definitely." He walked towards the door, the room service cart with him. "I love you. Don't forget that, ok?"_

_            "I won't." She smiled as his face broke out into a grin. "What?"_

_            "Nothing. Just… I have a new found love for __London__." He smiled as she laughed and pulled her into a deep kiss. "Just to tie me over." He whispered as they broke away. "I love you." He kissed her forehead before turning and opening the door, slipping out into the hallway._

            His eyes were fixated on the wedding rings in his hands as tears built in his eyes. "I'm going crazy here Sydney. I need you to come back to me. I'm not…I'm not very good at losing people and I don't really care for it."

            He toyed with the rings in his hands as tears began to slide down his face. "I said some pretty horrible things to you. I said the worst possible things I could say. To make you think that, for even a moment, I regretted marrying you, it makes me sick.

           "You are the best thing that has _ever_ happened to me and I cherish every moment that I've ever had with you. I was so stupid to let myself get angry with you over something as trivial as you forgetting. I mean, we all forget things. To think that I put my own, discrepancies about your mother over you and the kids… It's inexcusable."

            He sighed deeply as he pushed the tears off of his cheeks. "Sydney, loving you, having you love me back, has made me the luckiest man in the world. I thank God every day that someone so loving, so gentle and kind, and understanding, and beautiful could ever think to love me.

            "I watch you with our children. I mean, how lucky am I to have you as the mother of my children? I never have to question about you about your loyalties. You are so… there are not words to describe you Sydney. Because to do that, would mean putting something pure and beautiful and so full of love into words and that…that's just impossible.

            "I need you to come back to me. To come back to Danny and Bella and Evelyn. I can't do this without you. I can't go through everything that you do. I can't be the kind of parent I know I can be without you standing there next to me. I can't be the kind of _man_ I know I can be without you next to me.

            "I love you, so much. _So_ much baby. I hope you know that. I hope you know that I would never regret you. Never. I need you to come home Sydney."

            Tears were streaming down his face as he placed the rings on her stomach. He leaned down and placed his head on their entwined hands. "Please baby, come home to me. I love you."

            She pushed her way through, the air thick and suffocating. But it was there, just a little ways in front of her. She could see the brightness of the room around her, her sleeping son in the corner. And she could see him sitting next to her.

            She wanted to be with her children. More than anything she wanted to hold her children and let them know that she loved them, that she would never leave them. But she was still so scared. The words he had spoken to her… She had once heard that in times of heated anger, true feelings come bursting through. And to think that maybe he had meant those things, scared her.

            She stood staring at the light in front of her as she contemplated what to do. And then… his voice filtered through. The love, the sincerity that flowed through each word, each syllable, pulled at her heart. As she heard him speak his words of devotion, she made up her mind and took the final steps into the light.

            **A/N: Well? I hope you all enjoyed that. Because I enjoyed writing it. Let me know. I'm thinking… two more chapters after this. After all, while angst-ville is a happenin' town… Fluff-land is the greatest there is.**

**            Let me know. I hope to get to 200 by the end of this fic (I'm already over 150!! SCORE!!) And your reviews are the only way I can get there.**

**            Merci,**

**            -SAG**


	12. Really Here

          **A/N: I want to apologize for the entirely too long wait for this. I had a really rough summer, went through some personal things and I ended up taking a break from just about everything. And then school started again and the wonderful journey they call college applications started up. Oh and has that been a wonderful journey. Yes, I am lying. Still, I am sorry it has taken quite so long for me to have put this out.**

**            Thank you to all of you who were kind enough to send me emails and go back and find places where you could review again (Krystal I don't know _how_ you got that many reviews out…). It was very sweet and kind and it let me know that people were actually still reading. **

**            There is at least one more chapter, though I'm thinking that will be it. I'm not sure but I am assuming. I'm not quite in the same place that I was in when I first started this and coming back and trying to write it is a bit difficult, one of the reasons this file has been on my computer for a month now, very slowly coming together. But the next chapter will come. I hope to get it out relatively soon, and by that I mean not 6 months from now. But these next few months are going to be filled with "Where are you going to college" and an endless array of school work . . . whoever said Senior year was easy, lied. So thank you all for staying with me on this.**

**            _Dedicated_ – _To all of you who are still with me, and who got me over 200. You have made me smile. Thank you._**

          **Ch.****  11     Really Here**

It was foggy. Terribly foggy and the noises around her were becoming increasingly louder. Her entire body tried to fight each step she took, forcing her to turn back, to stay in the comfort of the darkness. Ignoring the feeble protests every fiber of her body was making, she stepped clear into the light, listening as the sounds intensified, almost as if a rushing train was coming at her.

          Her hand twitched lightly in his as he slept by her side. His head rested gently against their joined hands and the movement barely stirred him. Her hand twitched again, forcing him out of his reverie. Blinking slowly, he lifted his head from their hands, trying to catch his bearings.

          "Sydney?" His voice was barely more than a whisper, afraid to scare her away if she was truly the reason he had woken up. "Syd?"

          Her hand twitched again, stronger this time, against his and a tiny moan escaped her cracked lips. Rising to his feet, Vaughn reached over and pressed the call button impatiently as he tried to soothe his slowly waking wife.

          "Sydney…Sydney listen to me. I need you to open your eyes for me. Please love, just open them for me. Let me see those gorgeous brown eyes I fell in love with. Please. Please Sydney." He kept his voice soft as he ran his thumb over her hand, impatiently pressing the button before finally giving up, leaning over her.

          "Sydney, come on. I know you can do this for me. Don't give up on me now. Please." He placed a gentle kiss across her forehead, trying everything he could think of to arouse her. 

          He watched as her head slowly tossed, eliciting quiet moans. Keeping her hand in his, he slowly ran the other along her arm, continuing to whisper to her.

          Feeling a presence next to him, he slowly turned his head to see his son, staring up at her, his eyes wide.

          "Mommy?" His voice was cracked and full of emotion.

          Vaughn watched in amazement as her eyes began to move slowly, Danny's voice having helped bring her about. She struggled to open her eyes as both husband and son watched in silence.

          Blinking, she suddenly came in contact with a harsh white light, and quickly forced her eyes closed. It hurt.

          She could hear sounds around her, feel a hand holding hers. Listening to the gentle pleads, she opened her eyes again, blinking until the harshness of the light subsided and her eyes were met with the smiling, tear stained face of her husband.

          "Hi." He whispered softly. "No, no. Don't talk." He spoke quickly, stopping her before she could try. "You have a tube down your throat that's been helping you breathe." Blinking back the tears, he sighed softly and bent to kiss her forehead gently. "You've had me so scared. So scared." He leaned over; pressing the button again, this time, finally eliciting the reaction he wanted as a nurse came striding into the room.

          "She's awake." He spoke softly, never letting his eyes leave Sydney's face. 

          Smiling, the nurse informed him she'd be right back, and quickly exited the room.

          "Dad?" Vaughn tore his eyes away from Sydney's to meet his son's request. "Dad, can I…can I talk to her?" Danny whispered softly.

          Vaughn could only smile as he reached down and picked up his son, placing him on his lap so that Sydney could see him without moving her head.

          "Hi Mommy." Danny smiled as tears began to fall down his cheeks.

          Struggling slightly, Sydney raised her hand, letting her fingertips drop gently against the cheek of her son. "I missed you, Mommy."

          Vaughn opened his mouth to speak when the door burst open and Dr. Bloomer rushed in, coming straight to the bedside.

          "So she finally decided to wake up?" He smiled good-naturedly as he turned to face Vaughn. "I need to examine her for a bit. You're welcome to stay Mr. Vaughn, but I suggest your son go and sit with the rest of your family." Turning to Danny, he smiled warmly. "I'd bet your family would love to know that your mommy is awake. Why don't you go and give them the good news and tell them that your dad will be out to see them when they can all come in and visit?"

          Danny nodded slowly and, leaning down to kiss his mother's cheek softly, crawled off his father's lap and quickly exited the room.

          "Can you…can you take the tube out?" 

          "That'll be the first thing I check for." Dr. Bloomer smiled softly and motioned for Vaughn to step back as he moved into Sydney's eye sight. "Hello, Mrs. Vaughn. My name is Dr. Bloomer. About three days ago, you were brought here to St. Joseph's Hospital because you were in a very bad car accident. You've been in a coma since the EMT's brought you in. I'd like to examine you quickly, just to make sure things are okay before I take that tube out of your throat. Is that all right with you?" Sydney nodded slowly, never allowing her eyes to wander from the Dr.'s kind face. "Wonderful. It won't hurt and it'll just take a moment."

          Vaughn stood off to the side and watched as his wife was slowly examined. He smiled softly at Dr. Bloomer's bed side manner, watching as he softly joked with her and took her mind off the examination. Vaughn instantly regretted the harsh treatment he had given the doctor earlier, but seeing the way he treated his wife now, Vaughn knew that Dr. Bloomer would understand and not hold it against him.

          "Now Sydney, I need you, when I count to three, to blow out really hard so that I can remove the tube from your throat. Once it's out, don't try and talk right away, it's been in there for a while and your throat is going to be irritated. We'll get you some ice chips so that you are able to talk in a bit. All right?" She nodded slowly to his smiling question. "Okay, then on three. One . . . Two . . . Three."

          Vaughn shuddered involuntarily as he watched the doctor pull the tube from Sydney's throat, her coughing ringing out in the tiny room. 

          "Well, Mr. Vaughn. From what I see your wife is doing fine. I'll have to run some more extensive tests later, but for now, she is set." He watched as Vaughn never took his eyes off his wife. "I'll let you two have some time. You can bring your family in when you are ready." Placing his hand gently on Vaughn's arm for a moment, Dr. Bloomer moved towards the door.

          "Thank you Dr. For everything." Vaughn called after him before stepping closer to his wife.

          Sitting back down in the chair next to her bed, he smiled softly as she turned to look at him. "Hi."

          "Hi." She rasped out softly.

          "You aren't supposed to do that." He chided gently, brushing away a lock of hair from her face. "But, then again, when have you ever listened to Dr's instructions?" He laughed lightly. "Do you . . . do you remember that horrible doctor we went to when you were first pregnant with Danny?"

          "The . . ." she cleared her throat harshly. Vaughn reached over and grabbed the cup of ice chips the nurse had brought in not moments before and helped her take a few. "Thank you. The stupid one that expected me to stay in bed for 9 months?"

          "Yeah. That one." Vaughn smiled as he ran his fingers down her cheek. "God, Sydney. You've had me so scared. I . . . I have never been so scared in all of my life. No mission ever scared me like I have been. I . . . I thought I lost you." He whispered, tears streaming down his cheeks. 

          Taking his hand in hers, she pulled him to her, cradling his head against her, whispering soft "Shhhh"s as she ran her fingers through his hair. "I'm here. I'm okay."

          He lifted his head, kissing her forehead, her nose and her mouth gently, needing to feel her. He placed several light kisses along her mouth before kissing her deeper, pulling away when the need to breathe became essential. 

          "I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have . . . I just . . ." he sighed deeply as he looked at her. 

          And suddenly he broke. Tears began rushing down his face as his words came out in a flush of pain. "I'm so sorry Sydney. I didn't mean them. I didn't mean anything I said. I was just hurt and angry and I never wanted to take it out on you." He dropped to his knees, cradling her hand between his own. "I'm so sorry . . . so sorry . . . sosorry sososorry."

          He continued to talk in rushed, muffled tones as tears pooled along the soft white sheets. She watched in awe for a moment at the man who was breaking silently before her. The man she had seen fight along beside her for so many years and weather so many bumps and bruises along the roads that marriage had led them. And now she was watching as he broke down into a small little boy.

          Leaning down to him, Sydney tried her best to take him into her arms and cradle him slowly, the same way she would have Evelyn or Bella. 

          "Shh. Shh. Michael, Michael, sweetheart, I'm right here." Her voice was soft, barely above a whisper and still raspy from the tube having been down her throat for almost three days. She ran her fingers through his hair softly, letting him release his anger, his grief as she held him gently.

          When his tears had subsided, Vaughn lifted his head and looked into her eyes, mesmerized at the fact that she was indeed still there, looking back at him. Brown and green molded perfectly as he stared into her eyes intently listening as the sound of her soft breaths echoed off the walls.

          "Are you really here? Really awake?" His voice was barely above a whisper as he moved his hand to sweep her hair behind her ear.

          Instinctively Sydney leaned into his touch, closing her eyes for a moment at the feeling. "Yeah, I'm here." She opened her eyes slowly, brown meeting green once more, tears pooling gently behind her lashes. "I'm here."

          Standing slowly, Vaughn leaned in, kissing her forehead for a long moment. Closing his eyes, he was startled at the gentle _ping_ that occurred moments later. Looking down at the floor, his eyes focused in on the reason behind the noise and the world seemed to stand still. Slowly he moved down to pick up the two tiny circles, standing again, holding them out for her to see.

          "Oh Michael I . . . "

          "No." He cut her off quickly. "I don't want to talk about that now. I mean, we do have to talk about that. There is no question. But right now, right now I just want to forget about it. Can we? Please?" His eyes were pleading as he slowly looked up at her. She nodded in consent.

          Taking a seat on the edge of her bed once again, Vaughn looked back down at the perfect circles in his hand. He barely registered her voice calling out to him.

          "What?"

          "Can I . . . can I have them back?" Her voice was small, childlike.

          Smiling, Vaughn reached for her left hand, slipping the rings back on slowly as he leaned in to kiss her gently on the mouth. 

          "In my eyes, they were never gone in the first place." She smiled up at him as he stood. "I should probably go let everyone know. I'm sure they are all going insane wanting to come in and see you. You up for that?"

          Nodding slowly, Sydney sunk back into her pillows, getting comfortable. 

          "Okay, I'll be right back." Moving quickly, he turned and made his way towards the door, only turning at the sound of her voice.

          "Michael?"

          "Hmm?"

          "I love you."

          Smiling, he whispered the words back to her before turning and walking into the hallway, letting the door close gently behind him. 

**            So, there we go. I hope that wasn't too different from the rest of the chapters. Thank you for sticking with me.**

**Merci,**

**SAG**


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